MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Wednesday she will submit a sweeping electoral reform bill to Congress next week, aiming to slash public spending by 25% while redirecting savings to healthcare and education, though critics warn it could hand more control to her ruling Morena party.
Speaking in Mexico City, Sheinbaum emphasized the changes as “simple, very rational reforms” driven by public demands, insisting, “We don’t want a state party or a single party.” The legislation, set for delivery on Monday, targets Mexico’s costly electoral system, which Pablo Gomez, head of the electoral reform commission, said consumed $3.55 billion in 2024.
Key proposals include forcing plurinominal lawmakers, currently appointed from party lists based on vote shares, representing 200 of 500 lower house seats and 32 of 128 senators, to win direct public elections through campaigning, a shift Sheinbaum highlighted from recent consultations. The bill would also curb party financing, restrict daily TV and radio airtime per broadcaster during campaigns, mandate labels on AI-generated content, prohibit bots, and impose pay caps on elected officials and electoral staff, some of whom out-earn the president.
Additional measures ban consecutive reelections starting in 2030 and streamline voting for Mexicans abroad, while keeping the INE electoral commission’s councillor count unchanged.
Passage requires two-thirds approval in both congressional chambers, posing a challenge for Morena without backing from allies like the Labor and Green parties, which resist core elements. The PRI opposition has decried the plan as a threat to democracy by dismantling party-list representation. Much backlash centers on eliminating these lists, Sheinbaum noted.
The push echoes Morena’s 2024 judicial election revamp, billed as a democratization of justice but lambasted by foes for risking corruption via politicized courts. It also revives efforts by Sheinbaum’s mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who repeatedly pursued electoral changes during his term.