**INE Approves Candidate Lists for SCJN and TEPJF Elections**
On February 20, 2025, the General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) approved the final candidate lists for judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) for the upcoming elections scheduled on June 1, 2025. The Council, acting as the autonomous constitutional organ, has also included candidates for magistrates of the Judicial Discipline Tribunal (TDJ), Regional Chamber of the TEPJF, Circuit Courts, and District Judges.
For the SCJN positions, there are 78 nominations, comprising 42 women and 36 men. These candidates represent various branches: Executive Power (15 women and 12 men); Legislative Power (15 women and 12 men); and Judicial Power (9 women and 12 men). Current ministers such as Lenia Batres Guadarrama, Yasmín Esquivel Mossa, and Loretta Ortiz Ahlf, initially excluded by the Senate, have been reinstated in the electoral lists as candidates from the Federal Executive Power.
Prominent figures such as Paula María García Villegas Sánchez Cordero, daughter of retired Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero Dávila, and Eduardo Santillán Pérez, a former local legislator, are also among the candidates vying for positions within Mexico’s constitutional court. Marisela Morales Ibáñez, a former chief of the now-defunct Public Prosecutor’s Office under President Felipe Calderón, is on the list as a candidate from the Federal Judiciary.
In the Superior Chamber of the TEPJF, current members Luis Espíndola Morales and Rubén Lara Patrón will be considered for candidacy by the Judicial and Legislative Powers, respectively. The candidacy lists lack gender parity, with 6 women and 9 men nominated for a total of 15 positions, a discrepancy noted and criticized by electoral advisors, who stressed the need for equal representation.
“Though the Senate provides the lists, we are urging for gender parity in future distributions since our regulations mandate it,” as remarked by advisor Carla Astrid Humphrey Jordan. Meanwhile, advisor Dania Paola Ravel Cuevas expressed her concern over the gender imbalance, pointing that it represents a setback in achieving equal political opportunities for women.
This process, despite the limited preparation time, is considered an informative exercise for future electoral events, suggesting that legislative bodies should permit INE, as the specialized electoral authority, to manage such elections. INE’s preparedness was underscored by its responsibility in managing the candidate lists submitted by the Senate.
On February 21, 2025, the printing of sample ballots will commence, totaling 600 million for an electorate of 99,304,420 registered voters. Adjustments on the ballots and entries, such as removing duplicates of candidates who appear across multiple evaluation committees, were also addressed by the General Council.
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