Mexico’s Electoral Authority Confirms Morena’s Supermajority

By Diego Oré

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s electoral authority confirmed on Friday that the ruling party, Morena, along with its allies, will maintain a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house, although they will fall slightly short of it in the Senate when the new legislative term begins in September.

The electoral authority, INE, determined that Morena and its allies secured 364 seats in the lower house, surpassing the required two-thirds majority of 334 votes needed to amend the constitution autonomously, without opposition approval.

In the Senate, the ruling party will hold 83 of the 128 seats, just missing the two-thirds majority threshold of 85 seats.

Morena party leader Mario Delgado expressed his satisfaction with INE’s ruling, stating on X that it respects the people’s will and reaffirmed the party’s commitment to the Fourth Transformation political project initiated under the current president.

This formal validation of the June 2 election results followed complaints from opposition parties who believed that the ruling coalition should have fewer seats based on a specific interpretation of the electoral system that emphasizes party representation over coalition representation.

INE’s presiding counselor Guadalupe Taddei defended the decision, stating, “The INE neither gives nor takes away congressional or senatorial seats. Only the citizens can do this with their vote.” She emphasized the INE’s dedication to democracy and reflecting the popular will expressed during elections.

The Morena party is looking to implement a series of constitutional changes proposed by outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador starting from September 1.

These proposed changes include a contentious reform of the judiciary, allowing judges and magistrates to be elected by popular vote, which has raised concerns in the markets.

Other proposed amendments aim to eliminate autonomous bodies, reform the electoral referee to have its counselors elected by popular vote, and remove plurinominal deputies from the system.

These constitutional changes are expected to be addressed before October 1 when Claudia Sheinbaum will take office as Mexico’s first female president.