MEXICO CITY—Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday passed a controversial electoral reform championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that critics see as an attack on democracy ahead of key elections next year.
The proposal to reduce the size and budget of the independent agency that organizes elections was approved in the Senate by 72 votes in favor and 50 against.
The legislation now heads to the president for enactment, having already been voted through the lower house after various alterations.
The bill is a watered-down version of more radical reforms originally sought by Lopez Obrador that sparked mass street protests against a perceived attack on a key institution, the National Electoral Institute (INE), designed to safeguard elections from political tampering.
The polling agency has previously said that even the “Plan B” changes contained “deficiencies that endanger the workings of the electoral process.”
Lopez Obrador alleges that the INE endorsed fraud when he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2006 and 2012, before winning in 2018.
He argues that his reform will improve the electoral system.
The opposition vowed to challenge the reform in the Supreme Court and called for fresh street protests.
It voiced concern that the changes would benefit the ruling party, which is gearing up for presidential and legislative elections in mid-2024. AFP