Electoral Reform in Mexico: A Threat to Democracy

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

8 a.m. PST (9 a.m. CDMX, 11 am ET) 

In 2022, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador first proposed a constitutional reform to Mexico’s electoral system that would have dramatically altered the National Electoral Institute’s (INE) structure but it did not receive the required two-thirds majority in Congress. In response, AMLO drafted a so-called “Plan B” that only required approval by a simple majority of the Congress, which he secured this past February. In March, Mexico’s Supreme Court temporarily suspended parts of Plan B and confirmed it would consider a lawsuit from INE that seeks to overturn the electoral reform. The court argued that the reform could be in violation of citizen’s political and electoral rights.

The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies (USMEX) and the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center have invited a panel of experts to discuss what’s next in AMLO’s attempts to overhaul Mexico’s electoral system.

(In English & Spanish) – Interpretation Services Provided

Panelists:

• José Ramón Cossío, Former Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico
• Maria Marván, Professor of History, UNAM
• Kathleen Bruhn, Professor, UC Santa Barbara

Moderators:

• Andrew Rudman, Director, Mexico Institute
• Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies; Aaron Feldman Family Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in U.S.-Mexican Studies in Memory of David Feldman