From attacks to attacks on INE

By Ivabelle Arroyo

1. The Supreme Court of Justice has momentarily stopped the application of reforms for the electoral organization in Mexico, but this does not guarantee that the necessary votes will be reached to eliminate them.

2. The four lists of candidates for INE councilors favor profiles close to the governing party, but this does not imply the destruction of the Institute or bias in the vote count.

I begin with the stopped reforms. In four laws, legislators managed to compact the electoral pipeline by 82 percent. Eight out of 10 expert officials, who obtained their place by competition, will be dismissed, the territorial structure is eliminated and the rules of party surveillance are changed. This complicates Election Day and removes a cumbersome watchdog who fines and gives opinions. No, it is not true that this reform is to save money or to make INE more impartial. The bureaucratic cut is brutal but insignificant in terms of public resources. Not a single peso is taken away from the parties and there is not a single change in the reform that reinforces the autonomy and impartiality of electoral officials. Not a single one.