The National Electoral Institute (INE) has denied the accusations of fraud that have circulated on social networks after the elections. According to Martín Faz, the president of the INE Organization and Training Commission, this is a “false narrative.” Since last Sunday, the organization has clarified that despite the violence of June 2, which left 15 homicides and burned ballot boxes in at least four municipalities, the results returned by the Preliminary Electoral Results Program (PREP) and the quick count they are truthful.
In addition to these mechanisms, the institute announced that it has begun district counts, one of the most relevant processes, and the one that definitively dictates who won in each of the 20,000 positions subject to popular election. In the district counts, the electoral authorities add the tally and count records of the boxes of the 300 District Councils of the INE. It began in uninterrupted sessions on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:00 a.m. and will conclude until all the minutes are tallied. It will have a maximum period of 82 hours, so it is estimated that the results will be available before Saturday, June 8 at 6:00 p.m., according to Guadalupe Taddei, president advisor of the INE.
How is the vote counted?
On Sunday, June 2, the PREP results pointed to a resounding victory for the Morena candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, who had 59.35% of the votes, which placed her with a 31.4% advantage over the candidate of the opposition. Xóchitl Gálvez, from the Force and Heart coalition of Mexico, took 27.9% of the votes. Initially, Gálvez acknowledged defeat and declared Sheinbaum the winner, but shortly afterward he announced fraud and said that he would seek a recount of the votes.
The INE has indicated that, although the district counts are being captured and their result is final, the vote count is normal and is not due to electoral fraud. “That we say that we have to report is by law, not because we are accepting irregularities,” said Guadalupe Taddei. In accordance with article 311 of the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures, the recount of boxes is contemplated during the district counts if :
- The results of the poll file report do not coincide with those of the representatives of the political parties or the president of the District Council.
- Obvious alterations are detected in the minutes that cause doubt about the result of the election in that box.
- There is no record of scrutiny and counting in the polling station file, nor is it in the possession of the president of the council.
- There are obvious errors or inconsistencies in the different elements of the minutes.
- The number of null votes is greater than the difference between the candidates placed between first and second place in voting.
- All votes have been cast in favor of the same party.
The recount of votes involves the opening of the electoral packages in each electoral district and is a complementary procedure that was already done in the 2018 elections, where 75% of the electoral packages were recounted. Taddei reported that a recount will be made of 67% of the presidential minutes and around 70% of the minutes of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
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