What is at stake in the 2006 election?

On Sunday, July 2 nd 2006, Mexicans will elect a new President for the term 2006-2012. According to the Mexican Constitution, presidential re-election is not allowed. Mexicans will also elect new members of Congress: 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies (300 by the first-past-the-post system and 200 by proportional representation) to serve three-year terms. 128 Senators (64 seats by first-past-the-post, 32 seats given to the second minority and 32 seats by proportional representation from national party lists) to serve six-year terms.

Who is in charge of organizing the elections in Mexico ?
	The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) is the independent agency in charge of organizing federal elections in Mexico. State and municipal-level elections are carried out by local electoral bodies, independent from the IFE .

The IFE has been ranked as one of the institutions with the highest level of public confidence in Mexico by different polls. The IFE is now one of the most respected electoral bodies in the world. It has provided assistance to other countries on technical aspects of the organization of elections such as electoral document production, voter identification systems and electoral rolls. Countries receiving IFE’s assistance during the last two years include Iraq, Haiti, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Algeria, Morocco, Zambia and Guatemala.

How does the IFE ensure fair and clean elections?
	As a result of a number of electoral reforms that were passed throughout the 1990’s, free and fair elections are now the norm in Mexico. Political parties and campaigns are mostly publicly funded, and ballots and vote-counting procedures are well established and respected. Citizens are directly involved in the organization and oversight of elections:
Citizens receive and count the votes. The electoral law mandates the IFE to randomly select and train citizens to act as electoral officials on Election Day. Between March and June 2006, the IFE carried out the procedure to randomly select and train the 913,885 citizens who will operate 130,555 polling stations on July 2nd. Citizens are in charge of the election. 1,992 non-partisan citizens oversee the electoral process as members of electoral councils. There are 32 state-level and 300 district-level electoral councils which serve both as decision-making and oversight bodies from October 2005 to August 2006. Citizens can act as electoral observers during the preparation of the elections and on Election Day . In order to promote electoral observation, the United Nations manages a fund to support local NGO's involvement as electoral observers. The IFE has also signed agreements with civil society organizations to promote citizen participation. Political parties oversee every aspect of the organization of elections. They have permanent representatives before the General Council of the IFE and before every electoral council in the country. Political parties also can appoint representatives to each polling station on Election Day. Foreign nationals are welcome to come to Mexico and observe the electoral process . The IFE has approved applications of visitors from 26 countries. The deadline to apply as a foreign visitor is June 21 st .

How are elections carried out in Mexico ?
Elections are carried out by a permanent body of civil servants within the IFE structure: the Electoral Professional Service . This ensures transparency and accountability in every area of electoral organization. The IFE maintains and permanently updates a permanent Electoral Roll , which complies with high standards of quality, coverage and accuracy. There are 71,351,585 citizens registered to vote with a valid voting ID-card.
	94.5% of all Mexican citizens who are eligible to vote are registered. 91.9% have a voter ID-card. The Mexican voter ID-card is now regarded as one of the safest and most reliable voter identification systems in the world.
Besides the voter ID-card, there are a number of measures that ensure free and fair elections in Mexico. Electoral ballots are produced with state-of-the-art counterfeit measures. The IFE will produce 221 million ballots for the elections of the President, Federal Deputies and Senators. The IFE also produces more than 300,000 transparent ballot boxes. Besides these measures, the IFE applies a special ink mark in every voter’s thumb to ensure that no one can vote twice. This special ink is produced in Mexico and has been exported to other countries.

What steps has the IFE taken to enhance the transparency and fairness of the election?
The IFE has taken important measures to reinforce the existing legal framework and enhance the transparency and fairness of the electoral process:
New rules of financial disclosure. The IFE has requested parties to disclose partial financial statements during the campaign period in order to track their revenues and expenditures in a timelier fashion. With the former rules, parties would have disclosed this information months after the election, and the IFE would not have finished the auditing process until the first quarter of 2007. These new rules allow transparency and disclosure to act as deterrents for illegal behavior.
Promoting a leveled playing field. There is a complex legal framework prohibiting any kind of financial or material support to parties and candidates from government officials, but when it comes to political support, the line is less clear. The IFE has then enacted special rules to ensure that public servants maintain a neutral position during the campaigns, requesting the President, Governors and municipal presidents to suspend government’s promotion in the media 40 days before Election Day. Media monitoring. The IFE estimates that media advertising account for 60 to 70% of campaign expenditures in Mexico. The IFE keeps track of almost every ad transmitted on radio and television. This monitoring will eventually allow for the oversight of political parties' expenditures, ensuring that no party spends beyond the legal limits. Newscast monitoring. The IFE also tracks the major TV and radio newscasts transmitted both by national and local stations in order to measure the time allocated to each party or candidate in the news, and to determine whether the news coverage meets “objectivity criteria”. The IFE has no regulatory power regarding media content, but it can inform the public about the treatment that each candidate and party gets. Results have indicated that parties and candidates are getting balanced news coverage by national TV and radio broadcasts.

Will Mexicans living abroad be able to vote?
	Yes. 54,780 voters living abroad sent in their applications to participate in the July election, 40,854 of which fulfilled all the legal criteria to cast their vote via mail. The IFE created the Electoral Roll of Voters Living Abroad. Entries to this new list were automatically deleted from the regular National Electoral Roll in order to prevent duplicate votes.
The IFE has mailed to the registered applicants an envelope containing a special ballot, as well as the instructions on how to cast their vote and send it back to Mexico . To ensure voter confidentiality, the return envelope will not contain the name of the voter, but rather his or her voter ID card number (in a bar code format). Envelopes with marked ballots will be accepted by the IFE in Mexico until July 1st, 2006. At 6:00 pm on Election Day, the envelopes will be opened and votes will be counted in special polling stations.

Election Day
On July 2nd, 71,351,585 citizens will be able to cast their vote in 130,555 polling stations throughout Mexico. After the polls have closed at 6:00 p.m. local time, citizen electoral officials will count the votes in each polling station. Results will be electronically sent to a central redundat server and database running the Preliminary. From the moment the PREP begins operations, the public will be able to access it via Internet from anywhere in the world.
The IFE will also execute a Fast Counting program , based on a sample of more than 7,600 polling stations. As soon as votes are counted in these stations, IFE 's personnel will send the results to the IFE 's headquarters in Mexico City . This statistical exercise, as well as the size of the sample, may allow that by 11:00 p.m. of Election Day, the IFE may be able to announce electoral trends, even in a very close race. All the conditions for a peaceful, clean, fair and free election are in place. The IFE guarantees that every single vote will be accurately and transparently counted. On July 2 nd , citizens will decide who will govern Mexico in the years to come.
Answers to 30 essential questions on the mexican electoral system and the federal elections 2006 The Mexican Electoral System Nature and attributions of the Federal Electoral Institute New electoral geography and characteristics of the Federal Registry of Voters Political parties juridical and financial system and conditions of equity in the electoral contest Fundamental stages and activities of the electoral process International activities of the Federal Electoral Institute