A poll conducted by Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) confirms that a majority of Mexicans approve of key changes included in President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s electoral reform initiative. According to the poll accessed by EL PAÍS, 93% of citizens support the proposal to allocate less public funding to political parties; 87% support a reduction in the number of representatives and senators at the federal level; 78% support electoral councils and magistrates being directly elected by citizens; 74% agree to cut funding to INE.
The points on which the presidential initiative does not find such overwhelming – albeit always majority – support relate to the reestablishment of the electoral control apparatus. For example, the proposal to replace the INE with a new centralized National Institute for Elections and Consultations (INEC) is supported by 52% of respondents, while 40% opposed and strongly opposed. Regarding the disappearance of state electoral institutes and courts, 53% agreed while 43% disagreed.
Morena’s representative before the INE has pointed out that the results of the study were withheld from her for two weeks because they were “prejudicial” to the institute. Two officials of the election umpire denied the allegation and assured that the report was distributed to all Council members, although certainly not to the parties represented in the General Council. They pointed out that the survey was an internal input for the institute’s decision-making process. “Also, the results are public, they’re on the transparency side,” said one of the officials. “This is not the first time that the institute has conducted an institutional evaluation survey and the results are always disclosed in the same way.”
The INE survey was conducted by three private companies on September 9th and 10th through 400 telephone interviews with a representative sample of the Mexican population over the age of 18, according to the technical documentation of the study. This poll is important because it is the first to be produced by the same institution that López Obrador and his Morena party plan to re-establish. So far, the only studies on the initiative have come from private pollsters and the media. For example, since May, El Financiero published a survey that showed results similar to those now provided by the INE. This Tuesday, Reforma published a study saying that 13% of the population agrees with the INE’s “disappearance”.
Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) telephone survey on the scope of potential electoral reform. decency
The electoral officer’s poll seems to show that the mood of citizens is far removed from the positions of party leaders, who have promoted discursive campaigns in defense of the INE and democracy. López Obrador’s initiative is already being negotiated in the Chamber of Deputies between the government bloc from Morena, the Greens and the Labor Party and the Va por México alliance of PAN, PRI and PRD. Only the citizens’ movement remained on the fringes of the negotiations in protest.
The INE study, the results of which have been distributed among electoral councils since October 13, shows that those who believe that electoral reform is necessary are the same ones who agree with López Obrador’s leadership. The Elections Officer made a general assessment of citizens’ perceptions of his institutional leadership. One of the most notable findings is that positive opinion of the INE has fallen 11 points from 67% to 56% over the last year, largely because respondents believe it is a corrupt institution, that it commits electoral fraud, that she’s made pacts with parties and politicians and mishandled public funds, all allegations steeped in the official discourse of López Obrador and Morena’s politicians.
43% believe INE spends too much, mainly on election officials’ salaries, advertising and campaign propaganda. 85% say the budget cut for the institution would not affect their voting rights.
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