Mexico held its first-ever judicial elections Sunday, stirring controversy and sowing confusion among voters who struggled to understand a process set to transform the country’s court system. Mexico’s electoral authority announced late in the night that 13 percent of Mexico’s 100 million voters cast ballots at the polls, lagging far behind the 60 percent turnout just a year before during the country’s presidential election. Nevertheless, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called the voting “a complete success.”
Experts warned of startling low turnout in the lead up to the historic elections due to the mindboggling array of unfamiliar choices and the novelty of voting for judges. Experts say those factors may throw into question the legitimacy of the election, which has faced months of fierce scrutiny. Instead of judges being appointed on a system of merit and experience, Mexican voters cast ballots to choose between some 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions. Sheinbaum, a member of Mexico’s ruling party, Morena, rejected the criticisms and insisted the election would only make Mexico more democratic and root out corruption in a system that most people in the country believe is broken.
Even without the final tally, the results of the vote are set to transform Mexico’s judiciary. Morena overhauled the court system late last year, fueling protests and criticism that the reform is an attempt by those in power to seize on their political popularity to gain control of the branch of government until now out of their reach.
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