World-first judicial vote is 'a blind date with democracy'

On a heat-dazed afternoon in Culiacán, the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, a speaker by the cathedral was droning through an advert for the judicial elections on a loop when a plume of smoke appeared in the sky. A flicker of agitation ran through the plaza.

- Thomas Graham

After months of cartel conflict, Sinaloa is on edge. Yet last Sunday, it and the rest of Mexico began the process to elect every judge in the country, from local magistrates to supreme court justices, by popular vote.

It is a world-first democratic experiment, but one that prompted warnings of low turnout, a political power grab and infiltration by organised crime.

The reform is the most radical move by the governing Morena party and its allies since they won a congressional supermajority last year allowing them to change the constitution at will.

Few disagree that Mexico’s judicial system needs change. Justice is inaccessible to many, corruption is commonplace and impunity is rampant. Morena claims its reform will address these issues by making the judiciary more responsive to popular opinion.

But critics say it will bulldoze the separation of powers and, by throwing the doors open to less-qualified candidates whose campaigns may be backed by opaque interests, it could aggravate the very problems it seeks to solve.