Fabiola Martinez
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, January 28, 2026, p. 8
To justify the installation of digital control video cameras and turnstiles in the facilities of the National Electoral Institute (INE), the Executive Directorate of Administration (DEA) of this body said that it must equate the security systems to that of other agencies, such as the Presidency of the Republic, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF).
He argued that the old conditions “have led to the recent history of the institute showing a documented pattern of greater numbers of threats and attacks – heterogeneous in motivation and modus operandi–, which confirm the need to strengthen the security capabilities” of the INE.
Regarding the pedestrian and vehicle controls, he alleged that people were “sneaking in.” “Once visitors and suppliers enter the INE headquarters, monitoring them has been very complex, which is why constant complaints are received from employees and officials that their activities have been interrupted by unauthorized people in their areas, since once inside the property they have the ease of moving through all the facilities.”
Likewise, it warns that in massive gatherings, for example for the registration of candidates, internal staff must be in charge of controlling thousands of people.
Currently there are 209 cameras, but the level of increase in new technology devices and the cost of the project are unknown. As reported last week, the INE Transparency Committee decided to reserve the details of the contract, arguing that this body has responsibilities classified as national security.
The text does not offer a response to what was disclosed last Friday, regarding considering the press room a common area and, therefore, placing cameras even above the computers used by reporters. There is no consensus on the measures among the 11 councilors; three said publicly that they were not consulted.
The new plan will be applied in 40 INE properties and will include the strengthening of the monitoring center, to expand its storage capacity for images taken with video cameras, in order to make it a “preventive, dissuasive or active support instrument for decision-making.”
It maintains that the plan to install cameras and other devices for entering buildings is offered as comprehensive protection to be equal to other public bodies, such as those mentioned, as well as “different secretariats of State and the headquarters of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.”
The offices considered for this project are those located in Tlalpan, Tláhuac, Corporativo Corum, Corporativo Zafiro, Insurgentes, Corporativo Quantum, Moneda and the Computing and Document Storage Center, as well as in the 32 local executive boards.
97 operated in the central offices, while the state offices and some located in Mexico City lacked a video surveillance system.
