Mexico’s Supreme Court Halts Electoral Overhaul

Mexico’s Supreme Court Halts Electoral Overhaul

Court to hear election agency’s challenge against President López Obrador’s laws

By Juan Montes

THE WALL STRRE JOURNAL, March 25, 2023 9:49 pm ET;

MEXICO CITY—Mexico’s Supreme Court halted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s overhaul of the electoral system after the nation’s independent electoral agency filed an appeal on grounds that the measures were unconstitutional.

The high court said late Friday that it agreed to hear a legal challenge by the National Electoral Institute, or INE, against more than 200 provisions recently passed by legislators of Mr. López Obrador’s ruling party. The INE has said that the overhaul imposed deep staff and budget cuts that risk crippling its ability to organize reliable elections.

Justice Javier Laynez halted the overhaul until the court resolves the challenge. Justice Laynez, who will be in charge of drafting the court’s ruling, said that the laws could potentially violate the political rights of Mexican citizens.

The suspension protects the agency from the budget cuts, which spurred mass demonstrations across the country in recent months. Protesters said that the measures weakened the country’s democracy. A ruling is expected before June.

Chances that the top court upholds the laws don’t look good for Mr. López Obrador, a nationalist who took office in 2018 railing against the political establishment, said Jesús Silva-Herzog, a Mexican political analyst.

Mr. López Obrador’s administration has just two safe votes among Supreme Court justices of the four needed, he said. Mr. López Obrador has been critical of Chief Justice Norma Piña since she was elected to head the top court in January.

Demonstrators in Mexico City last month protested the electoral overhaul.

The court’s move represents a win for the INE, which had a central role in Mexico’s transition to democracy in the late 1990s. The electoral laws, passed in Congress in February, are one of the president’s flagship legislative initiatives.

Mr. López Obrador reacted angrily Saturday to the suspension granted by the court. He said that Supreme Court justices are part of a “mafia of power” that is against democracy and the progress of Mexico. Mario Delgado, the head of Mr. López Obrador’s Morena party, said Justice Laynez’s decision was an “illegal and arbitrary” act. Mr. Delgado said the government will likely challenge the suspension.

Mr. López Obrador’s legislation aimed to eliminate many of the INE’s units and nationwide office network in charge of organizing elections and issuing national identification cards for the country’s 95 million adults at no cost. The ID is required to vote.

The laws also sought to cut the agency’s $760 million annual budget by almost a third. The electoral agency estimated that the measures would force the layoffs of some 6,000 of its 17,000 employees, including technical staff in charge of organizing elections.

Mr. López Obrador, who is barred from re-election by law, argued that the costs of the electoral agency were too high. He has also said the agency works for a corrupt right-wing oligarchy.

The INE and Mexico’s opposition parties said that the measures weakened the country’s ability to hold free and fair elections, as democratic institutions are weakening in many Latin American countries.

On Feb. 26, more than 150,000 people packed Mexico City’s central Zócalo square, where the presidential palace stands, rallying against the electoral overhaul. Tens of thousands also demonstrated in more than 100 cities across Mexico in one of the largest protests against Mr. López Obrador.

In response, Mr. López Obrador’s supporters demonstrated in the Zócalo square last Saturday to commemorate the 1938 expropriation of the oil industry. After the rally, some demonstrators burned a cardboard figure of Chief Justice Piña.

Mr. López Obrador condemned the burning of the image, saying: “There are ways to protest without going to those extremes.”

Write to Juan Montes at juan.montes@wsj.com