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Mexico

Franchise & Registration

  • Franchise Age: 18
  • Compulsory Vote: Compulsory for all voters
  • Eligibility Exception: criminal conviction, imprisonment, fugitive from justice, sentence imposing suspension
  • Registration Type: Formal registration in office
  • Registration Basis: Residence requirement

Election Management & Enforcement

  • Nameof EMB: National Electoral Institute
  • Independent EMB: Yes
  • EMBNominations: 11 members selected by Parliament, according to the special procedure set forth by the Constitution. Expert based membership.
  • EMBTenure: 9 years
  • Who Runs Election: Election Management Body
  • Nameof Elect Enforcement Body: Electoral Tribunal

Candidacy & Campaign Rules

  • Debate Average: 1
  • Debate Format: 5 candidates. 2018: Overall, the first debate drew in more more than 11 million viewers over the age of 18 in Mexico.
  • Debate Mandatory Number: Not mandatory
  • Debate Mandatory Number: Not mandatory
  • Opinion Polls Embargo: Embargo for longer

Electoral System & Organisation

  • Elect System Main Election: Mixed
  • Main Election Type: Presidential
  • Main Election Cycle: 6
  • Numb Round Main Election: One
  • Referenda_Law: The result of the referendum shall be binding whenever turnout amounts to at least 40% of the voters' list. Source: Referendum Law: Ley Federal de Consulta Popular, art. 5, 64
  • Referenda_Binding: Always Binding
  • Voting Machine: None
  • Vote IDRequired: ID check compulsory
  • Polling Card: Polling card compulsory
  • National Holiday Elect Day: Systematic
  • Dayof Election: Sunday
  • Districting Source: EMB
  • Districting Flexibility: For the purpose of legislative elections, the country is divided into 300 single-member and 5 multi-member electoral constituencies. In addition, the perimeter of each constituency is expected to have a regular geometric shape (square, rectangle, rhomb). The idea is that the distances between all corners of the district are connected. It is all taken into account while elaborating the project to draw the electoral boundaries.
  • Frequency Districting Change: 10
  • Election Night Traditions: For one to two days before elections, Mexican states ban the sale of alcohol to promote a way of voting that's peaceful.

Polling Station

  • Normal Opening Time Poll Station: 08:00
  • Normal Closing Time Poll Station: 18:00
  • Listof Polling Station Buildings: schools, public buildings
  • Accessibility Requirement: Party to UNCRPD. Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE), the government body that organizes elections in Mexico and works to create suitable conditions so that all groups can participate, has instituted a set of mandatory guidelines entitled the “Protocol for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities”. The guidelines include requirements for the availability of Braille ballots, improved physical access for people with mobility impairments, and polling stations in hospitals. In the July 2018 elections, approximately 90,000 voters benefitted from the protocol.
  • Ballot Box Transparency: Transparent
  • Box Feeding System: Voter
  • Vote Receipt: Facility of paper trail is available in some states‎/municipalities
  • Tellersor Party Employees: In Mexico, polling stations are staffed by volunteers drawn from the electoral register. Presiding officers receive training from the electoral commission. This model is not only cost-effective, but contributes to citizen ownership of the process. In some areas, there has been a reduction in enthusiasm for volunteering as a polling official, and there even some who attend the training and then do not take up the function.
  • Count Locallyor Centrally: locally
  • Manualor Automatic Count: manual
  • Nature Counting Personnel: The officers of the polling table

Ballot Paper

  • Ballot Type: Paper
  • Singleor Multi Paper Ballot: Single
  • Max Numberof Votesper Ballot: 3
  • Ballot Paper Type Description: Single Ballot Paper with Candidates and Logos. Mark X.
  • Ballot Paper Type Photo Upload: YES
  • Ballot Logos: Freely Allowed
  • Orderof Candidatesor Parties: random

Remote Voting

  • Temporal Remote Voting: If conditions met
  • Geographical Remote Voting: If conditions met
  • Personal Remote Voting: No
  • Time Temporal Remote: 1
  • Remote Voting List: In Mexico, since the 2006 federal elections, postal voting for people living abroad has been permitted. A request can be made to the National Electoral Institute which then sends the ballots outside the country.
  • Mobile Polling Stations: No

Special Needs

  • Provision First Time Voters: 1997: The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organized the children’s elections, the first ever held in Mexico. They aimed at familiarizing youngsters between the ages of 6 and 12 with electoral procedures and democratic practices, as well as promoting an understanding of children’s rights.
  • Provision Illiterate Voters: The Election Commission of Mexico City developed an assistive device for persons with physical disabilities. The device has elastic to make it easier to hold and has an x on the bottom that can be used as a stamp. The tool was developed to assist persons with low literacy and persons with disabilities to use an x as a signature. It was used in the 2015 and 2017 electoral cycles.
  • Provision Blind Voters: Braille ballot, Magnifying Sheet, Mexico's National Electoral Institute released a voter education video encouraging persons with disabilities to vote during the 2018 elections.
  • Provision Deaf Voters: Mexico's National Electoral Institute released a voter education video encouraging persons with disabilities to vote during the 2018 elections.
  • Provision Motor Handicap Voters: Mexico's National Electoral Institute released a voter education video encouraging persons with disabilities to vote during the 2018 elections.

Targeted Initiatives

  • History Major Changes: President Echeverría introduced in 1971 a reform that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

Inclusivity Provisions