The countdown has begun for the largest election in Mexico’s history.
In just under a month, millions of Mexicans will cast their votes to elect over 20,000 officials at both the federal and local levels. So, how many citizens can vote on June 2?
How many Mexicans are eligible to vote in federal and local elections?
The General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) has announced the definitive registry and nominal list of the citizens eligible to vote in the upcoming elections at the federal and local levels includes 99,893,717 Mexican citizens (both in the country and abroad).
Which voting options were introduced for the first time this year?
The electoral roll of 99.89 million includes some who are participating via new federal voting options for Mexican citizens.
The first one allows Mexicans held in preventive detention to vote (30,391 people according to INE). These people, who are in prison awaiting trial, were granted the right to vote in 2019 based on the principle of presumption of innocence by the Electoral Court. However, the governors of Veracruz and Yucatán states have refused to grant inmates access to this right.
The second group is called the “Early Vote,” which allows 4,020 citizens to vote who are physically unable to go to a polling station.
The last new option is electronic voting by Mexicans living abroad (1.5 million eligible voters). This is the first time Mexicans living abroad will be able to vote online in a federal election.
In mid-April, close to 40,000 citizens were removed from Mexico’s foreign electoral roll due to what the INE called “irregularities” or “inconsistencies” in their online applications. INE Counselor Carla Humphrey said that of the 39,724 registrants that were removed, 23,089 requests have been attended to, 2,402 are in the process of clarification and approximately 82% of the 18,760 remaining applications are yet to be reviewed.
Which political offices are up for election in 2024?
Aside from electing a new president on June 2, voters will also elect 128 federal senators and 500 federal deputies to Congress, as well as many state legislators, mayors and city councilmen.
A new mayor (jefe de gobierno) of Mexico City — previously the presidential front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum — will be elected, along with the governors of Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán.
With reports from La Jornada, Expansión and NMas
