Voters across Mexico went to the polls on Sunday to elect thousands of judges, from the local level to the Supreme Court, pressing ahead with one of the most far-reaching judicial overhauls ever attempted by a large democracy.
The process will transform the judiciary away from an appointment-based system, a change that leaders of the governing Morena party say will help root out corrupt officials, democratize the courts and give citizens a voice in who administers justice.
But although most Mexicans agree that their justice system is broken, the overhaul being enacted on Sunday has drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures and legal experts. They argue that it risks giving Morena extraordinary power over a third branch of government, throws out the old system’s career requirements and opens the door to candidates who could be influenced by drug cartels.
Because the election is so ambitious — more than 2,600 judges and magistrates will be elected, out of more than 7,700 candidates — some election experts expected voter turnout to be low. As voting got underway, relatively few voters could be seen lining up to vote around the country.
In Tultitlán, in the state of Mexico, Jazmín Gutiérrez Ruiz, 37, was among those who cast ballots. She said that she hoped the election would root out corruption from the judiciary, and that her reasons were personal. Two of her brothers have spent two years in prison, accused of a murder “they didn’t do,” she said.
“I want the magistrates and judges to change, and for them to take the time to carefully look at the cases,” said Ms. Gutiérrez Ruiz, who works for a processed meat company. “Just like my brothers, there are many people locked up unjustly.”
She arrived at the polling place with a cheat sheet with the numbers of specific candidates, handed out to her by Morena operatives last week. “I am with Morena,” she said.
Ms. Gutiérrez Ruiz said she had been asked not to show the sheet. “They gave us a talk about how this was going to be done,” she said.
This election will fill only about half of Mexico’s judiciary, with the rest of the judges to be selected in 2027. Mexico votes with paper ballots, which must be counted by hand. Results for the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, will probably take days to become clear.
In addition to the balloting for judges at the federal level, 19 of Mexico’s 32 states were holding local elections. That meant that voters were presented with a dizzying variety of ballot types, depending on where they live. Some had to parse through scores of names and multiple pages, though in one state, Durango, there were 49 candidates for 49 jobs.
Challenges like this may not be ideal for an election, acknowledged Jonathan Cristobal Vázquez, 65, a doctor from Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, but he rejected the assertion by the overhaul’s critics that voters would be unprepared to choose from so many candidates.
“We are not an ignorant people,” Dr. Vázquez said. He called Sunday’s vote a “start,” and said, “I prefer that to nothing.”
Refugio Picazo, 78, a retired teacher, said he considered voting in the election to be a civic duty.
“It’s necessary to finally get rid of the scum,” Mr. Picazo said when he voted on Sunday in Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila State, in northern Mexico. “It’s necessary for the good of all, not just a few.”
Many candidates struggled to raise awareness about their campaigns. They could not buy ads on television, radio or online, and were barred from receiving public funding. Morena leaders said the rules were meant to preserve some parity among candidates and to limit outside influence on campaigns.
But those rules, too, drew criticism, with some candidates saying that they tilted the field toward wealthy competitors, who can fund their own races, or that they made the elections subject to the whims of internet trends.
Eduardo Álvarez, 60, who works in finance, stopped by a polling station in Mexico City, just to see what it looked like. He said he did not want to participate in the election, expressing concerns over the qualifications of candidates and the possibility that some could have ties to organized crime.
“Changes were needed, but not this outrageous,” Mr. Álvarez said.
The push to overhaul the justice system began under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador after the Supreme Court blocked some of his government’s plans, among them weakening Mexico’s electoral watchdog agency and putting the National Guard under military control. Federal judges also issued orders to suspend some of his flagship projects, citing environmental concerns.
Mr. López Obrador signed the overhaul as one of the last acts of his presidency, and his successor, Ms. Sheinbaum, has championed the changes since taking office last year.
Mr. López Obrador has shied from public appearances since leaving the presidency last year, but he surfaced on Sunday to vote in the southern state of Chiapas. Speaking with reporters, he lauded the vote,
“I’m very glad to live in a free and democratic country,” he said.
Chantal Flores contributed reporting from Saltillo, Mexico, and Rocío Gallegos from Ciudad Juárez.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Simon Romero is a Times correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. He is based in Mexico City.
James Wagner covers Latin America, including sports, and is based in Mexico City. A Nicaraguan American from the Washington area, he is a native Spanish speaker.
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