▲ The extraordinary session of the General Council was held virtually last night.Photo The Day
Iván Evair Saldaña
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, December 31, 2024, p. 7
Almost on the deadline, the General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) last night opened the discussion of its budget for 2025 in order to adjust it to the cut of more than 13 billion pesos imposed on it by the Chamber of Deputies.
In the project to be discussed that was set to be approved at the close of this edition, the amount for the Judicial Branch elections was reduced by 52.9 percent, the precautionary budget
for the organization of a possible popular consultation and the resources directed to the offices of representatives of political parties, among other items, decreased by 46.5 percent.
The INE had planned for the organization of the extraordinary electoral process of the Judicial Branch of the Federation a total of 13 thousand 205 million 143 thousand 620 pesos, but it cut 6 thousand 985 million 930 thousand 358, that is, it will allocate only 6 thousand 219 million 213 thousand 262 pesos.
The discussion of the project took place in the extraordinary session of the General Council, held virtually one day before the deadline to approve the adjustments to its budget for the following year. It began at 10:30 p.m., with observations from the councilors and the political parties, which extended the session.
In addition to the amount for the judicial election, there was a reduction in the resources allocated to the operation of the institute, the institutional portfolio of projects (CIP) and for focused consultations, among other expenses, which added up to an adjustment of 13 thousand 476 million weights.
The popular consultation projects, to which 4 thousand 620 million 764 thousand 137 pesos had been allocated, were cancelled; those of the CIP were reduced by 920 million 31 thousand 638 pesos and the adjustment in concepts of the base budget decreased by 949 million 273 thousand 867 pesos. Among the previous budget there was a reduction of 54 million 766 thousand 972 pesos for the offices of the advisors of the Legislative Branch and those of representatives of political parties will have 46.53 percent less than what they would originally receive.
The INE had to adjust its budget in accordance with the amount endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies. On December 24, the Executive published in the Official Gazette of the Federation the Expenditure Budget decree for fiscal year 2025, in which it decreased by 13,476 million pesos from the originally requested budget.
27 thousand 56 million 755 pesos were assigned to the institute, but of that amount 7 thousand 354 million 266 thousand 504 pesos correspond to the prerogatives granted to the national political parties that amount to 19 thousand 645 million 790 thousand 251.50 pesos, which means 8 thousand 855 million 235 thousand 863 pesos less than what had been requested from Congress.
At the end of the session, the INE planned to open a second session to vote on two more projects in which the design of the ballots and the training and assistance strategy that will be followed in the judicial election on June 1, 2025 would be discussed.
