Discuss the last stage of the electoral process.
Answers
Framework
The electoral process in Mexico is conceived as an orderly sequence of acts and activities regulated by the Constitution and the electoral legislation that the authorities, political parties, and citizens carry out with the purpose of periodically renewing the seats of the Legislative and Executive Branches of the Union.
With this foundation, the division of the electoral process into stages holds the initial purpose of distinguishing and differentiating the temporal sequences of the diverse acts or activities that compose it, but also and more fundamentally, of guaranteeing the observance of the principle of definition. That is, granting strength and legal certitude to the implementation process and to the conclusion of each one of them, as well as guaranteeing that each activity carried out by the electoral authorities, the political parties and the citizens adjusts to the terms and deadlines established by the law.
Even when most of the activities carried out for each federal electoral process, especially those regarding organization and logistics are essentially the same and are divided into three main stages (preparation, election day and results and certification of validity), due to the presidential political system in Mexico, the law includes a fourth stage related exclusively to activities regarding the presidential election and are subsequent to the initial calculation of the votes cast for this election.
Therefore, when only midterm legislative elections take place, as those to occur on July 5, the electoral process consists of only three stages, to which a fourth one is added in case of ordinary presidential elections that happen every six years. The four stages may be summarized as follows:
Preparation of the election. The preparations begin with the first session of the IFE’s General Council held the first week of October on the year previous to the ordinary federal elections take place, and conclude in the morning of election day.
Election day. It begins at 08:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of July and concludes with the closing of the polling sites that have been installed for the reception and initial calculation of the votes.
Results and certification of validity of the elections. It begins with the remission of documents and electoral files from the polling sites to the district councils and concludes with the calculation and certification of validity that the Institute’s councils grant, or in another case, in the last stance with the resolutions made by the Federal Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch. In all cases, and according to the law, this phase should conclude by the last week of August.
Ruling and declaration of validity of the election and the President Elect. It begins when the last resolution over the challenges made against the electoral results is resolved or when there is proof that no challenges have been made, and concludes when the Superior Court of the Federal Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch approves the ruling that includes the final calculation of votes and the certifications of validity of the election and the President Elect. In any case and according to the law, this last phase of the electoral process should be finished during the month of September.
It is also important to emphasize that the latest reforms in the Constitution and electoral law establish some differences regarding the time span of some preparation activities for the elections. Such differences distinguish the federal processes including presidential and legislative elections from those in which only the 500 seats of the Lower Chamber are renewed, meaning that the terms for the performance of certain activities may differ from one process to the other.
Lastly, and before referring some of the main activities which comprise the three stages of an midterm federal electoral process as those of next July 5, it must be emphasized that one of the substantial differences between a federal electoral process that includes the presidential election from a midterm one resides that in the second no operative program for Mexicans citizens to vote abroad is included, since that only applies for presidential elections.
Therefore, the following outlines do not include any aspects related to the votes abroad, nor the additional and subsequent phase related to the ruling and declaration of validity of the election and President Elect.
1. Preparatory Phase
As previously mentioned, the preparatory phase of an ordinary federal electoral process begins with an ordinary session of the IFE’s General Council on the first week of October on the year before the elections take place. For the legislative federal elections of next July 5, the formal session of the General Council to initiate the corresponding process was held on October 5, 2008.
Installation of Local and District Councils