Wahlchaos in Mexico: Only 13 % vote on judges!

Wahlchaos in Mexico: Only 13 % vote on judges!

On Sunday, June 2, 2025, elections were held in Mexico to choose from judges, which was celebrated by President Claudia Sheinbaum as "success". However, the election led to an alarming low participation of only 13 percent of the citizens entitled to vote, which raises questions about the legitimacy of the procedure. In this vote, around 880 federal judge positions, including some positions in the Supreme Court, as well as hundreds of local judges and magistrates should be filled. Reports by Al Jazera describe the polling stations as "mostly empty".

A central problem that prevents many voters from making informed decisions is the lack of transparency about the candidates' party affiliation. In addition, the candidates were not allowed to lead a comprehensive election campaign. This led to a widespread ignorance among the voters who longed for more information about the candidates.

controversial judicial reform

The current election is part of a controversial judicial reform, which was initiated by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and was passed in parliament shortly before his transfer of office. This reform, which provides for the direct election of all judges, is accompanied by massive protests and strikes of judicial officers, but the opposition remained without noticeable success. Critics warn that the choice of judges endanger the separation of powers and that the suitability of the candidates could suffer from the influence of political and criminal power games.

Access to the Mexican judiciary remains severely restricted by high corruption and ineffectiveness. A survey showed that 77 percent of Mexicans believe that crimes were only punished in the event of political or media pressure. The reform process is also difficult by the fact that at least 10 percent of the crimes are displayed and only a fraction of it leads to convictions.

concerns about influence

The elections could possibly be influenced by criminal groups. Some candidates are suspected of having connections to drug bosses or other criminal organizations, which reinforces the fears of human rights groups and analysts. The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, also expressed sharp criticism of the reform by describing them as a threat to the country's democracy.

It is planned that a second round of judge elections will take place in 2027 to make another selection. In this first choice, the order of the items to be chosen was determined by a random lottery. The protest against the reform and the choice shows that a large part of the population is concerned about the independence and integrity of the judicial system.

The final election results are expected in the coming days, but everything already points to a rather negative picture for the new judge's election.

For more information on this topic, read the reports from Al Jazera , ZDF and Zeitung .