Federal Electoral Institute

The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) was an autonomous constitutional body in charge of organizing federal elections, that is, responsible for the election of the President of the Republic, federal senators and deputies. He was the highest authority on electoral matters in Mexico during the period from October 11, 1990 to April 3, 2014.

It was a constitutional body, because like the Powers of the Union, its existence was directly contemplated in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. But it would not be until six years after its foundation, on August 22, 1996, when it became autonomous.

In August 2007, the deputies agreed to remove the IFE advisors (electoral advisors) and expand the powers of supervision, as well as new attributions in terms of radio and television, regarding electoral propaganda.

With the political-electoral reform of 2014, promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto, it was agreed to dissolve the IFE to make way for the new institution called the National Electoral Institute (INE).

History

Scan of the reverse and reverse side of a credential to vote, issued in 1967 and which carries on the reverse the stamps of the votes cast in 1967, 1970, 1973 and 1976.

The Federal Electoral Institute replaced the Federal Electoral Commission. It was born as a result of the post-electoral conflicts of 1988, which led to a series of reforms to the Political Constitution approved on April 4, 1990, published on April 6, 1990, and the issuance of new regulatory legislation on federal electoral matters.: the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (COFIPE), on August 15, 1990. This institute began its activities on October 11, 1990, with the first session of its highest management body: the General Council, and its first President was Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios, who served as head of the Ministry of the Interior.

Since the date of creation of the Federal Electoral Institute, the constitutional and legal regulations on the matter have undergone four important reform processes in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 2007, which have significantly impacted the integration and attributes of the depository body of the electoral authority.

In its first integration in 1990, it was constituted as a State body with a concurrence of powers: Executive, in the figure of the Secretary of the Interior, and Legislative, in that of the Counselors of the Legislative Power, while, at seek a representation of the Judiciary, the figure of the magistrate counselor was created, in number of six, whose requirements turned out to be the same as those that allow to elect the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, reason for which they were assigned by constitutional provision a remuneration equivalent to that of said Ministers.

The founding Magistrates were the following jurists: attorney Luis Tirado Ledesma, attorney Manuel Barquín Álvarez, attorney Luis Espinosa Gorozpe, attorney Germán Pérez Fernández del Castillo, doctor Olga Hernández Espíndola and attorney Sonia Alcántara Magos, who They served as such from October 11, 1990 to May 18, 1994 and collaborated extensively in the democratization process in Mexico.

The Federal Registry of Voters and the National Registry of Citizens

In the decree creating Cofipe, published on August 15, 1990, its third transitory article established: "The archives, assets and resources of the Federal Electoral Commission and its technical bodies, the Registry National Electoral Commission and the Broadcasting Commission will pass to the Federal Electoral Institute. The National Register of Voters will be integrated into the Executive Directorate of the Federal Register of Voters provided for in articles 85 and 92 of this Code. While the Federal Electoral Institute is installed, the National Electoral Registry will continue to carry out the functions attributed to it by the Federal Electoral Code and will comply with the agreements reached by the Federal Electoral Commission". It should be noted that the constitutional reform of article 36 published on April 6, 1990 establishes among the obligations of the citizens of the Republic that of registering in the National Registry of Citizens. However, in the same Decree it is established in the second of its Transitory, that as long as the National Citizen Registry Service is not established, citizens must register in the Electoral Rolls. In fact, in the initiatives of different political parties of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures, one of the Executive Directorates of the IFE is called the Executive Directorate of the National Citizen Registry, however, the final consensus in the Legislative Power was to name it as Directorate Executive of the Federal Register of Voters; This was because opposition leaders demanded a new electoral roll for the 1991 elections and this was not possible with the Citizen Identity Card, which required a significant transition time for the country's civil registries to be homogenized. This situation has remained in the same state of affairs since that time, with some attempts by the Executive Branch to exercise this function and make two identification documents coexist, which has been a source of controversy.

Citizenization and professionalization

Since its creation, one of its fundamental characteristics was the professionalization of the electoral executive and technical function, in such a way that from article 41 of the Constitution of April 6, 1990, it was established that the executive and technical bodies will have the personnel qualified necessary to provide the electoral professional service, which is the only constitutionally recognized career civil service in Mexico. This fundamental element of the composition of the Federal Electoral Institute gave a sense of permanence and specialization to the electoral function, so that unlike the electoral organization models prior to the Federal Electoral Institute, where the electoral bodies were integrated every time there were elections with improvised personnel and without adequate experience, which could imply partiality in the electoral function, was transformed into a professional electoral service that strengthens impartial performance, even beyond the changes that may occur in the highest management body.

In 1994, a process of citizenization of the directors, who are part of the highest management body, was carried out, so that it was no longer a requirement to be a lawyer to be a director, which resulted in the change of name of the position magistrate counselor for that of citizen counselor.

In 1996 it was discussed whether the councilors represented the citizenry and which citizenry, since political parties are representatives of various sectors of the citizenry, for which reason it was concluded that the professionalization of the management function was sought electoral, so that the denomination of

Independence of the Executive Branch

The Federal Electoral Institute had the constitutional function of organizing the elections; however, Mexican public opinion considered him an arbitrator of the elections, a function that he was able to perform, tacitly, while the Secretary of the Interior was its president, that is, from 1990 to 1996. Upon reaching its full independence from the Executive Power and since the president counselor was a citizen elected by two thirds of the Chamber of Deputies, he did not have the instruments for electoral arbitration, and was limited to sanctioning administrative procedures directed at political parties but which were ineffective before the multiple actors of the electoral process. For this reason, in 2007 instruments were granted to sanction not only political parties but also citizens, militants and candidates of political parties, as well as concessionaires and permit holders of electronic media (radio and television).

Auditing the Resources of Political Parties

The Federal Electoral Institute had the power to deal with matters relating to the rights and prerogatives of political parties.

In 1993, the fundraising ("tray pass") of the Institutional Revolutionary Party generated discussion within the General Council, in the sessions of March 12 and June 8, determining that there were no powers to review the matter and recognizing the different political forces that there were no legal provisions on the matter.

On January 27, 1994, the president of the General Council, Jorge Carpizo, read an agreement signed by 8 political parties to contribute to the peace process, after the armed uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, on January 1 of 1994. Said Agreement establishes, among others, the following point: "5. Carry out, once the electoral process in progress is concluded, a review of the financing system for political parties in order to incorporate, where appropriate, the details deemed appropriate".

On November 22, 1996, reforms to the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in which Article 80 of that time established, among others, the Oversight Commission of Electoral Resources of the Political Parties and Groups, to which attributions are established in Article 49 of the same law in force at that time for the review of the reports of the political parties and political groups on the origin and destination of their annual resources and of Campaign.

Immediately on November 29, 1996, the commission was integrated with the Presidency of Mr. Alonso Lujambio and the integration of the Electoral Councilors José Barragan Barragan, Jaime Cárdenas Gracia, Mauiricio Merino and Jacqueline Peschard. In all that the Technical Secretary of the commission would be the Executive Director of Prerogatives and Political Parties.

On November 13, 2007, reforms to Constitutional 41 were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, where it was established that "the supervision of the finances of political parties will be in charge of a technical body of the General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute, endowed with management autonomy, whose head will be appointed by the vote of two thirds of the Council itself at the proposal of the President Councilor".

On January 14, 2008, a new Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures was published, where article 79 defines the Unit for the Oversight of Political Party Resources, and its powers are defined in article 81.

Both in 2006 and 2012, accentuated in this last election, the exceeding of campaign spending ceilings has been the reason for the attention of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation in the classification of the election of President Elect, but in In both cases, the highest electoral judicial authority has determined that, in accordance with the legislation, the review of the campaign expense reports is a step after the qualification of the election.

The TEPJF and FEPADE

Although the IFE was the highest electoral administrative authority, its acts and resolutions could be challenged before the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF), which is in charge of resolving differences in electoral matters in the country both in elections local as well as federal. Similarly, criminal offenses in electoral matters are prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Electoral Offenses. Both instances are entities that were not part of the Federal Electoral Institute.

Conformation and organization

The Federal Electoral Institute had jurisdiction throughout the federation, which is why it has central bodies located in the federal capital; local bodies, one in each federal entity and district bodies, one in each single-member federal electoral district.

At each level it has management bodies (Councils), executive bodies (Boards) and surveillance bodies (Commissions), and at the central level it has technical bodies.

Additionally, the Comptroller General was part of the Institute.

Central bodies

Its highest management body was a General Council, made up of nine electoral advisors with voice and vote, appointed by a qualified majority by the Chamber of Deputies, of whom one is appointed president advisor. Its renewal was staggered every 3 years and its tenure lasts 9 years, except for the president councilor who is appointed for 6 years and can be re-elected. They also made it up only with voice but no vote, one representative for each parliamentary faction and one for each registered national political party. Finally, the Executive Secretary was an integral part of the General Council, as its general secretary.

The Executive General Board of the Institute in accordance with article 121 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures was chaired by the president of the Council and was made up of an executive secretary and the executive directors of the Federal Register of Electors, of Prerogatives and Political Parties, Electoral Organization, Electoral Professional Service, Electoral Training and Civic Education, and Administration.

The National Surveillance Commission was the surveillance body made up of the Executive Director of the Federal Voter Registry who presides over it, the representatives of the national political parties, a Secretary appointed by the president of the Commission from among the members of the service electoral professional with functions in the registration area and a representative of the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Technology.

The technical bodies were the following:

1. National Coordination of Social Communication
2. Coordination of International Affairs
3. Computer Services Unit (Unicom)
4. Legal Directorate
5. Directorate of the Secretariat
6. Centre for Democratic Development
7. Technical Planning Unit
8. Political Party Resource Control Unit
9. Radio and Television Committee
10. Garante Body for Transparency and Access to Information
11. Electronic Management and Publication Committee
12. Technical Information and Documentation Services Unit
13. Liaison Unit (for transparency)
14. Editorial Unit

Local bodies

In each state, the Institute had a local council and a local executive board. There were 32 District Councils and 32 Executive District Boards in the country, that is, one Board and Council for each federal entity, including Mexico City.

Local Councils are temporary bodies that only functioned during the Federal Electoral Process and were presided over by the President Counselor, who was, at the same time, the Executive Member of the Local Board, the secretary is the secretary member, 6 electoral counselors and a representative of the political parties. Only the President Councilor and the Electoral Councilors participated with voice and vote; The rest of the members of the corresponding Local Board attend with voice but without vote.

In accordance with the provisions of article 135 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (Cofipe), the Local Executive Boards were made up as follows:

1. The local executive boards are permanent bodies that are integrated by: the executive vowel and the members of the Electoral Organization, the Federal Registry of Electors, Electoral Training and Civic Education and the vocal secretary.
2. the executive member shall preside over the Board and shall be responsible for the coordination with the electoral authorities of the appropriate federal entity for the access to radio and television of the political parties in the local campaigns, as well as of the electoral institutes, or equivalents, in the terms set out in this Code.
3. The clerk will assist the executive vocal in the administrative tasks and will carry out the review resources to be resolved by the Board.
4. The local executive boards will be invariably composed of staff of the Electoral Professional Service.

The Local Surveillance Commissions are made up of a President, who is the Member of the corresponding Federal Voter Registry, a representative of each national political party and a Secretary appointed by its President, from among the members of the Professional Electoral Service

District bodies

In each single-member electoral district there is a District Council and a District Executive Board. There are 300 Federal constituencies.

The District Councils are temporary bodies that only function during the Federal Electoral Process and are presided over by the president councilor, who is at the same time, the executive member of the District Board, the secretary is the secretary member, 6 electoral councilors and a representative of the political parties. Only the President Councilor and the Electoral Councilors participate with voice and vote; The rest of the members of the corresponding District Board attend with voice but without vote.

In accordance with the provisions of article 145 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (Cofipe), the Executive District Boards are integrated as follows:

1. The Executive District Boards are the permanent bodies that are integrated by: the executive vowel, the members of the Electoral Organization, the Federal Registry of Electors, Electoral Training and Civic Education and a secretary vocalist.
2. The executive will chair the Board.
3. The clerk will assist the Executive in the administrative tasks of the Board.
4. The Executive District Boards will be invariably composed of staff of the Electoral Professional Service.

The District Surveillance Commissions are made up of a President, who is the Member of the corresponding Federal Register of Voters, a representative of each national political party and a Secretary designated by its President, from among the members of the Electoral Professional Service.

Attributions

The Federal Electoral Institute had as its attributions, in an integral and direct manner, the activities related to electoral training and civic education, electoral geography, the rights and prerogatives of political groups and parties, the electoral registry and the list of voters, the printing of electoral materials, the preparation of electoral day, the computations in the terms established by law, the declaration of validity and the delivery of records of the elections of deputies and senators, the computation of the election of the President of the United Mexican States in each of the single-member electoral districts, as well as the regulation of electoral observation and opinion surveys or polls for electoral purposes. It also had exclusive powers in matters of electoral propaganda on radio and television in both federal and local elections, through the state time administration...

Preliminary Election Results Program

The PREP, better known by its acronym. It is a system that provides but does not count votes, the preliminary results of the federal elections and through the capture from the District Boards and publication via internet of the data captured by the polling station officials in the records of Scrutiny and counting of polling stations that is received in Data Collection and Transmission Centers (CEDAT) and that since 1994 has been working with technology based on Remote Capture Terminals. Its precedent is the Electoral Results Information System (SIRE) that operated in 1991 based on the compilation of tally sheets and counting of each one of the polling stations from the District Boards and sent by fax to IFE Central Offices where captured.

It makes it possible to publish electoral results in real time over the Internet before the quick count. This program is not part of a division of IFE but rather is an electoral information mechanism or instrument contemplated in COFIPE. Its electoral results are informative but not definitive.

The program of preliminary electoral results is endowed by the executive secretariat through the UNICOM dictated in Article 125 paragraph l of the COFIPE and according to the general council for the creation of the unit on June 30, 1998.

General Advice

Last directors before the dissolution of the IFE

Representatives of the legislature

The representatives of the legislative power in the IFE are:

• Senator Javier Corral Jurado (PAN), owner.
• Member Mauricio Sahuí Rivero (PRI), owner.
• Member Marcos Rosendo Medina Filigrana (PRD), Owner.
• Representative Héctor Hugo Roblero Gordillo (PT), Owner.
• Deputy Ricardo Astudillo Suárez (PVEM), Owner.
• Deputy Ricardo Mejía Berdeja (Citizen Movement), Owner.
• Member Luis Antonio González Roldán (New Alliance), Owner.

Representatives of political parties

The representatives of the political parties in the General Council of the IFE are the following:

• National Action Party: Francisco Gárate Chapa.
• Institutional Revolutionary Party: José Antonio Hernández Fraguas.
• Party of the Democratic Revolution: Camerino Eleazar Márquez Madrid.
• Labour Party: Pedro Vázquez González.
• Mexican Ecologist Green Party: Sara Castellanos Cortés.
• Citizen Movement: Juan Miguel Castro Rendón.
• New Alliance Party: Roberto Pérez de Alva Blanco.

Remunerations

The income of the Directors was defined in article 112, paragraph 3 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures in force, which established: "The remuneration received by the President Director and the Electoral Directors will be similar to that received by the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation", wording that comes from the electoral reform published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 31, 1996 when it was established in article 76, paragraph 3 of the then Code Federal Institutions and Electoral Procedures a similar wording.

The Chamber of Deputies approved, in accordance with article 75 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, the remuneration of electoral advisors in the Federation Expenditure Budget, where for 2012 the president advisor was defined as an Annual Gross Perception of 4,127,880 Mexican pesos and to the electoral advisors of 3,524,834 Mexican pesos; which are lower than the Annual Gross Perception of the President of the Republic, which is 4,207,644 Mexican pesos in accordance with the Bases of article 127 of the Constitution; while the Annual Gross Perception of the Minister President and the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and of the ministers that adhere to the Third Transitory of the Decree of August 24, 2009 on the basis of non-retroactivity of the law of 14 Constitutional is 5,892,778 Mexican pesos; the incoming Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice have an Annual Gross Perception of 3,999,413.

Article 207, paragraph 3 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures establishes that "The members of the Electoral Professional Service, due to the workload that represents the electoral year, as it is every working day and hour, they will have the right to receive compensation derived from the extraordinary work they perform, in accordance with the authorized budget"

National Electoral Institute (INE)

In the political agreement called "Pact for Mexico" it was proposed: "Create a national electoral authority and a single legislation, which is in charge of both federal, state and municipal elections" (Point 5.4). From this base, various political actors suggested creating the National Electoral Institute (INE), the proposal was formally presented in the second regular session of 2013 and was applied for the first time in the state elections that were held from 2014. This reform created an electoral body endowed with constitutional autonomy and empowered to organize federal and local elections, as well as the tasks that the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States conferred on the IFE (verification of signatures for the presentation of citizen initiatives and the holding of popular consultations, as well as the organization of said consultations). The organic transformation of the electoral authority would be accompanied by the issuance of a Federal Law on Political Parties and -we presume- a General Electoral Code applicable to federal, state and Federal District (now known as Mexico City) elections.

On April 3, 2014, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies approved the decree by which the new 11 directors of the National Institute of Elections are appointed, indicating with this, the creation of the same, for which it forced the swearing-in of the councilors the day after the approval of the decree and thus start the formal activities of the new electoral body.

On February 28, 2014, the Federal Electoral Institute presented a report to present the bases for the transition of assets to the National Electoral Institute.