Electoral institutions must be transparent, highlights the president of the TEPJF

Victor Ballinas

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday November 29, 2022, p. 6

When rendering his work report, in a solemn session of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), the president of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF), Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón, highlighted that a citizen democracy only It is possible with electoral institutions that are collaborative and open to public scrutiny.

For decades it was thought that the independence and impartiality of the courts rested on their technicality and secrecy. Today we know that this is not sohe stressed.

Before the members of the plenary sessions of the Court and the Federal Judicial Council (CJF), he maintained that judicial independence is “independence from other powers -public and factual-, but never independence from transparency and accountability”.

Electoral justice, he stressed, requires an open and collaborative TEPJF, in which Mexicans are empowered to know, evaluate and provide feedback on the administration of justice.

Today in Mexico, Rodríguez stressed, before the president of the Court and the CJF, Arturo Zaldívar, there is electoral justice and the only owner of democracy is the citizenry.

In his message to the ministers and magistrates, he indicated that in the TEPJF We are ready to face the challenges of the elections in Coahuila and the state of Mexico, as well as prepare the electoral process 2023-2024.

In Mexico, he asserted, there is electoral justice and our democracy has a TEPJF that guarantees fair play and offers timely and quality justice; an Electoral Tribunal that protects the vote of the people and defends their election, that balances the balance to break with structural inequalities and, above all, that belongs to the citizenry and is the result of a long struggle for democracy and freedoms.

He stated that today we have a democracy that fills us with pride, since more than 80 percent of Mexicans consider that the electoral system it works and does it well. Throughout 26 years, he explained, the TEPJF has been the ultimate judge that resolves conflicts in elections with autonomy, impartiality and independence.

The presiding magistrate indicated that as long as the citizen’s will is altered by vote buying, undue interference in the processes and other bad practices, the authorities will not be able to feel satisfied. Likewise, he affirmed that if a single person finds obstacles to exercise his rights and freedoms, there will be a pending issue. Today more than ever, he highlighted, citizens can be sure that they have a TEPJF that works to eradicate bad electoral practices.

This Tribunal, he maintained, has more than responded to the demands of citizens and political parties.

At night, it was reported in a statement that Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón and magistrates Felipe de la Mata and Felipe Fuentes received a group of PRI legislators, led by its national president, Alejandro Moreno, who requested this meeting with the in order to externalize various considerations around the proposals on modifications to the current electoral regulations.