Vacancies in the Supreme Chamber of TEPJF | Article

On Monday, August 7, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice (HJJF) approved Agreement 5/2023 setting out the procedure for combining two shortlists to be proposed to the Senate for the appointment of two justices of the peace of the TEPJF Superior House to fill the vacancies that will appear at the end of the term Justices of the Peace Indalfer Infante González and José Luis Vargas Valdes, which expires on October 31 of this year.

The GSP decided that one shortlist would be female and the other male, due to the gender parity rule. Candidates must register between 21 and 25 August to, after registration closes, proceed to the next steps to send the two final lists to the Senate on a date yet to be determined, but which should be necessary to allow that House to communicate at the appropriate time and at form whatever suits it, before going to the plenary to take a vote and appoint, by a two-thirds vote of those present, two new election judges.

Unsolicited appointments continue to pile up in the Senate. The most informative is 3 INAI commissionersan omission preventing the holding of a plenary meeting of this autonomous body; cases of 32 justices of the peace for elections, including subjects of the federation, have also been under consideration for more than a year; 5 Magistrates from the TEPJF Regional Chambers and, most recently, a Magistrate from the Specialized Chamber of the TEPJF itself. I do not detail other pending assignments thatinfluence various autonomous bodies and courts administrative regions.

The list is long.

The instruction from the National Palace to the majority in the Senate was draconian: do not make a single designation. Since all require a two-thirds vote, they are all delayed. Whatever it is, the Constitution contains an INE paralysis-saving valve: a hoax. But this valve does not exist for the above cases. Thus, two vacancies in the TEPJF Higher House can be added to the pending list without a decision date.

If the majority in the Senate (Morena plus PT and PVEM) decides to block the appointment of two election judges, or if the opposition (PAN, PRI, PRD and independents) remains united and withholds the necessary votes to meet the two-thirds requirement, i.e. The Supreme Chamber of the TEPJF will function from November 1 this year, consisting of 5 justices of the peace.. This possibility is provided by the Constitution and the law. The fact is that the INE General Council works with 7 of its members who have the right to vote and the right to vote.

In a nutshell: Mexico’s highest electoral court, which will run in the 2024 presidential election, can function legally, constitutionally and legally, with five magistrates. In that case, he left the question: Is the legal quorum still 4 or can we get together and decide at 3?

Governors Accuse TEPJF of Restricting AMLO’s Free Speech

The same will happen with the TEPJF Regional Chambers, which will be able to continue as they have been to this day, with two Senate-appointed members and one statutory commissioner.

Such a legal provision would lessen the negative consequences of the Senate’s inaction, but would place our supreme electoral tribunal in a situation not seen since its inception in 1996. The biggest problem will be what we can call “internal correlation” in the plenary session of the Sala Superior starting November 1 next year. With the risk that there will be an equality of votes (2 against 2) due to absence from the plenary, forcing the president to use his casting vote.

The appointment of two judges for elections to the TEPJF Superior House is a matter of national interest. It is no exaggeration to say that this is of decisive importance for the course of all elections in 2024, from the presidential elections to the elections of the smallest municipality in our political geography. For this reason, as I suggested a few weeks ago, from August 8, we began work on civilian observation of this process from the National Project Research Center (CEPNA).

Those interested can learn about these works through the CEPNA digital portal and the Voz y Voto magazine.

Postscript: I ask if it is possible – is it necessary – for the consent of the TEPUF Administrative Committee to suspend from September 1 all permits for electoral magistrates to leave or leave the commission abroad until the end of the electoral commission. process 2024.

Follow me at: www.vozyvoto.com.mx