Why Mexico’s Protests Show Anxiety on AMLO and Democracy

The large crowds of Mexicans that took to the streets on Feb. 26 were protesting a new law that, once signed and published, would cut the budget and workforce of the country’s election regulator, known as the INE. In a country where votes were routinely rigged during much of the 20th century, the new law is widely viewed as a threat to a still-young multiparty system. It’s also seen as part of an effort by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, to undermine democratic norms and boost his party’s chances of holding power after his six-year term ends in 2024, something he denies.

In 1990, Mexico’s Congress created an organization to oversee elections in response to a presidential contest two years before, in which vote counting was halted and the ruling party’s candidate suddenly jumped into the lead. The work of that body, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), was seen as key in laying the foundation for voters to end seven decades of single-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which happened in 2000. The Instituto Nacional Electoral, INE, is the successor to the IFE. Its leadership is chosen by the lower house of Congress, and it’s responsible for everything from issuing voter registration cards to making sure political parties’ radio and television ads don’t break rules for local and federal elections.