by Carlos Navarro 

On July 2, Mexico will hold its next federal elections. More than 71.5 million Mexican citizens are registered to vote, and they will elect a new president, 128 senators and 500 deputies (the latter two make up the National Congress). This election will be the sixth organized at the national level by Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) since its creation as an independent, public organization in 1990. However, it is the first federal elections to follow the historic 2000 elections, which saw the PRI party cede the presidency to another party for the first time in 70 years. In addition, it will be the first election since nine new members took the reigns of the IFE’s governing body, the General Council, after being appointed by Congress in October 2003.

The three federally elected offices—president, senator and deputy—are governed by different electoral rules. Mexico’s president is elected by simple majority for a period of six years. Presidents serve only one term as re-election is not allowed by the constitution.

The 128 members of Mexico’s Senate are elected for six years using a mixed electoral system. Each of the 32 federal states elects three senators: two seats are assigned to the party or coalition with the most votes and the third seat is assigned to the party or coalition with the second largest number of votes. The remaining 32 seats are assigned according to the principle of proportional representation using a national list of candidates from each party or coalition.

Congress’ 500 deputies are also elected using a mixed electoral system, though their terms of office are only three years. Three hundred deputies are elected in 300 single-member districts (each state is assigned a certain number of districts according to its population) using the principle of plurality (the candidate who receives the most votes wins). The other 200 deputies are elected using proportional representation: candidates on party lists compete for 40 seats in five multimember districts.

Mexico’s July elections are expected to be highly competitive. Only registered national political parties are allowed to present candidates, and currently, there are eight registered political parties. Six of them already have parliamentary representation: PAN, PRI, PRD, PVEM, PT, and PC (see box for party descriptions). The other two parties—PASDC and PANAL—obtained their registry for the next elections only last year.

PAN (National Action Party): center-right party of current Presi­dent Vicente Fox and historically the leading opposition force to the PRI. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 151

PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party): left-of-center party, which won all presidential elections between 1929 and 2000. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 224

PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution): left-of-center party, founded in 1988 by a wide array of leftist parties and organizations, and former members of the PRI. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 97

PT (Labor Party): formed in 1990, its roots are in a network of community organizations. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 6

PVEM (Green Ecological Party of Mexico): first registered as a party in 1991, this party has allied alternately with PRI and PAN over the past 15 years. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 17

PC (Convergence Party): describes itself as a “social democratic party”; first registered for party status in 1999. Seats won in 2003 Chamber of Deputies election: 5

PANAL (New Alliance Party): registered in 2005.

PASDC (Social Democratic and Peasants Alternative Party): regis­tered in 2005.

While PAN is fielding its own presidential candidate, the PRI and the PVEM have chosen to form an alliance—the “Coalition for Mexico.” Likewise, the PRD, the PT and the PC have formed the “Coalition for Common Wellbeing,” and each of these coalitions is offering voters a single candidate or list. Newly registered parties are not allowed to form coalitions to present common candidates. As a result, the PASDC and the PANAL are running their own candidates. To maintain their party registry and the right to participate in the allocation of seats by proportional representation, a party must receive at least 2 percent of the votes in any federal election.

The 2006 elections include significant innovations and present some important challenges for election administrators. First, between 2004 and 2005, the IFE conducted a redistricting process, redrawing the country’s 300 electoral districts. The review and adjustment of electoral boundaries was designed to ensure that each district had equal populations and therefore granted Mexican voters equal political representation and equal power at the ballot box. This new electoral geography corrected disparities created by significant social and demographic mobility; now, all districts vary no more than 10 percent from a pre-established average. In addition, 29 districts have been created—for the first time—with a predominantly indigenous profile. This redistricting will impact all races, but particularly those of the 300 deputies.

Second, voting by Mexicans living abroad will be allowed for the first time. As approved by Congress in June 2005, expatriate Mexicans will have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in the 2006 presidential elections. In addition, they will do so by mail, and the postal vote has never been used before in Mexico. To prepare for these new voters, registration was conducted abroad between October 2005 and February 2006. During this time, more than 40,000 Mexicans registered to vote abroad in the next elections.

Third, because there had been concern about going further in establishing a level playing field among candidates, creating eq­uitable campaign finance rules and disclosing political accounts, the IFE’s General Council recently approved a group of political finance regulations that represent an important step forward in this matter. These new regulations set more detailed guidelines for the oversight of national political parties’ financial resources and, for the first time, made clear political parties’ obligation to report on their campaign expenses before the election. For the 2006 elections, presidential candidates are required to report three times (March 30, May 30 and July 31), while candidates for deputy and senator must report twice (June 15 and July 31). The IFE will make all reports available to the public. These new political finance regulations were approved in November 2005 and were met by unanimous approval and supported by the political parties.

In addition, the political parties are required to authorize the National Bank and Securities Commission to deliver information about their bank balances to the IFE—should it be necessary—in order to ease the exercise of its oversight responsibilities.

In another step to increase political finance transparency in the upcoming elections, the IFE signed an agreement with the National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry (CIRT) and the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Offenses (FEPADE) in January 2006. This agreement stipulates that all stations af­filiated with the CIRT will provide the IFE with a copy of all service contracts signed with political parties between January and July 2006 as part of a campaign for federal office. This information—as well as the account information and party reports mentioned above—will give the IFE more tools for conducting oversight of campaign expenses, and consequently, will guarantee greater integrity and certainty in the electoral process.

Carlos Navarro is the director of electoral studies of the International Affairs Unit (Director de Estudios Electorales de la Coordinación de Asuntos Internacionales) of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE).