Seven local judicial candidates could lose their victories for not reporting expenses.

The National Electoral Institute (INE) canceled the registration of at least 81 local judicial candidates for failing to submit their campaign expense reports; of these, seven were successful in winning the position, putting them on track to lose their victory.

These figures correspond to irregularities found in the campaign spending audit reports of the more than 4,360 candidates for local judges who competed in the 19 states that also held judicial elections on June 1.

According to the draft resolutions approved by the INE, the registrations of four candidates in Quintana Roo were canceled for failing to submit campaign expense reports. Three of them were declared winners: Hugo Uribe Nicolas, Iván Manuel Ayuso Osorio, and Zeidy Stefany Diaz De la Cruz, all of whom were local criminal judges with additional specialization in juvenile justice.

Meanwhile, in San Luis Potosí, the INE canceled the registration of three candidates, including that of Verónica Pilar Castillo Nieto, winner of the position of state criminal oral trial judge.

Likewise, the registration of nine candidates for the local Judiciary of Tlaxcala was canceled; this could affect the victory of Jesús Ruiz Ramírez as a criminal judge, as he was accused of failing to submit campaign expense reports, for which he was sanctioned with the cancellation of his registration.

In Mexico City, the INE ( National Institute of Statistics and Census) decided to cancel the registration of 15 candidates for local judicial positions, including that of Alejandra Silvia Cordero Navarrete, a family judge for the capital.

On the other hand, this institute also canceled the registrations of 19 candidates for judges in Chihuahua, affecting Adalberto Contreras Payan's victory as a criminal judge in the 13th district of Morelos in that state.

Meanwhile, the INE also canceled candidacies in the states of Aguascalientes (1); Sonora (1); Tabasco (2); Tamaulipas (5); Veracruz (8); Yucatán (1); Baja California (8); and Coahuila (5); however, none of these candidates won the position for which they competed.

They alerted about omission

According to the INE , the cancellation of these 81 local candidacies, which include seven winners, comes after identifying that the candidates, despite having the legal obligation to submit their campaign expense reports by May 31st at the latest, did not do so, despite the fact that the auditing authority made them aware of their omission.

"It is clear that in this case there was no intention to comply with electoral regulations or with the request made by the supervisory authority, despite the fact that the latter notified him of the findings (...) In this regard, it is unquestionable that the subject brought against the charge displayed fraudulent conduct by not submitting the single campaign expense report, knowing that it was required of him and that there were findings that evidenced campaign acts carried out in his favor," the draft resolutions state.

It was stated that failure to comply with the rule constitutes a "specially serious" violation related to the candidate's willingness or availability to submit the campaign report, even though the authority, through a procedure aimed at ensuring compliance with this obligation, provided the candidate with the opportunity to do so.

Accountability

During the discussion of these cases, Councilor Carla Humphrey Jordan emphasized that without expense reports, there can be no oversight, "and without accountability, no legitimate aspiration for office can be sustained."

He added that it is therefore essential to preserve the integrity of the electoral model, the fairness of the contest, and the public's confidence that the rules are the same for everyone.

"This General Council must seriously acknowledge, with institutional self-criticism, that we face a limitation that weakens the effects of oversight," he emphasized.

It should be noted that the cancellation of these candidacies can still be challenged before the Electoral Tribunal, which, if it confirms the violations, must determine how these positions should be filled.