OEA sees a great reform to strengthen the vote as unnecessary

The Foreign Visitors Mission (MVE) that deployed from the Organization of American States (OAS) to observe the federal and local elections, which took place on June 6, 2021, indicated that the Mexican electoral system does not require reforms. deep to continue guaranteeing the exercise of the vote.

In the section on observations and recommendations by topic, of a report that will be debated next Wednesday, it was recalled that since 2009 the organization has accompanied the electoral processes in our country, in which it has been found that the electoral system has some strengths. .

These are found in the administration of the elections and in “having a robust electoral justice system, with autonomous and specialized authorities in their field.”

The document stated that any electoral system can be perfected, so specific changes could be generated, in specific matters, however, the national electoral system “does not require profound reforms.”

On the other hand, he pointed out that smear campaigns and unfounded attacks are not the way to improve electoral institutions.

“In this sense, the Mission insists on the cardinal importance of the guarantee of autonomy and independence of the electoral authorities (administrative and jurisdictional),” it was indicated.

Polarization

The report detailed that the MVE verified a climate of political tension and confrontational and polarizing rhetoric, in the 2021 elections, which included questioning the National Electoral Institute (INE) throughout the stages of the electoral process.

The MVE/OEA observed that high-ranking public officials (including the head of the Executive Power) and party figures sought to discredit the decisions of the INE and the TEPJF (Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary), describing them as fraudulent and undemocratic.” , referred to in the report.

The document also considered that, in some cases, the public demonstrations called for the dismissal of electoral authorities and encouraged violent behavior against them.

“The electoral process must be conducted in an environment free of direct or indirect pressure on the officials responsible for carrying out said process,” the report stated.

As a main recommendation, the OAS Mission specified that all political actors should conduct themselves responsibly and channel their “claims, particularly those related to possible irregularities, institutionally through the channels established by Mexican law.”

Violence worries

On the other hand, the MVE indicated that another of the issues that drew attention was political violence, for which it expressed its concern about the events that impacted Mexico on election day in 2021.

He explained that he was aware of up to 35 murders of candidates for public office, officials; members of campaign teams and relatives of candidates, during the electoral period between September 2020 and June 2021.

“The MVE/OEA reiterates that violence does not fit in democracy. For this reason, it underlines the importance that acts of electoral violence, of any kind, be analyzed and investigated by the competent authorities and that they do not go unpunished, ”he said.

The agency specified that there is no legal framework explicitly dedicated to addressing electoral violence in our country. However, the Mission observed the implementation of an “incipient but innovative protection strategy in the electoral context, which began to be implemented in March 2021 by the Secretariat for Citizen Security and Protection.”

“The OAS specialists could not access specific information on its operation, nor on how the Coordination Tables for Peacebuilding adapted their operation to the particularities of the electoral context. However, the Mission considers that the existence of this initiative is a step in the right direction”, he reiterated.

Another of the sectors affected by violence was journalism, according to the MVE.

“According to information collected by civil society organizations, as of June 5, there were 32 cases of attacks against journalists during the electoral period.

“The most common included acts of intimidation and harassment, physical attacks, and threats, with Guanajuato, Puebla, Coahuila, and Jalisco, respectively, being the states in which the most attacks had been recorded,” he concluded.

Morena will insist on lowering the cost of elections with legal amendment

Ignacio Mier Velazco, coordinator of the Morena parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies, stressed that the “plan b” of his party in electoral matters consists of reforming secondary laws in order to avoid costly elections.

“Before the master’s eye, the horse fattens and from there the advisers grabbed to increase salaries. More than 200 INE officials have salaries double what the president earns and the councilors earn just over 400,000 pesos a month if we add the Christmas bonus, the double vacation bonus and in some cases even the marriage dowry, ”he reproached.

Likewise, he recalled, the electoral reform of 2013-2014 caused an exorbitant growth of the National Electoral Institute (INE), which caused operating expenses today to be almost 13,000 million pesos and that the cost of the electoral operating organizations in the states cost another 13,000 million pesos.

“We want to strengthen the electoral body (…) We are encouraged that there is no duplication of functions, that the Mexican electoral system does not crack and with it that there is a perfectly defined attributions of the electoral citizen body at the national level,” argued the legislator poblano.

Cordova analysis

Likewise, the leader of the guinda bench regretted that Lorenzo Córdova Vianello, after his appointment as president of the INE, had done the opposite of what he proposed at the end of December 2013, when he analyzed the minutes of the electoral constitutional reform of 2013-2014 .

In the document “Analysis of the electoral reform. Observations to the electoral reform bill”, said Mier, Córdova questioned the cost of the elections and the bias of the electoral body. (Maritza Perez)

ivan.rodriguez@eleconomista.mx