Mexico: The new constitutional reform adjusts judicial elections and redefines the structure and electoral rules of the Judiciary for 2028

On June 2, 2026, the President of the Mexican Republic published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) the Decree whereby various provisions of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States are amended and supplemented, regarding the reform of the Judiciary, which sought to adjust the regulatory framework of the 2024 judicial reform, specifically with respect to various electoral rules and the judicial renewal calendar, as well as a reform to the structure of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).

Said decree, which entered into force on the day following its publication, includes, among others, the following substantive modifications to the structure and electoral regulations of the Judiciary.

Modifications to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Following the 2024 reform, the Constitution provided that the SCJN would be composed of nine justices and would function as a Plenary Court (Pleno). Under the decree at hand, the Constitution now provides that, while it will continue to be composed of nine Justices, it may also function through two sections, subject to prior approval of the Plenary Court.

The competences corresponding to each of the sections will potentially be determined, in due course, by secondary legislation and the corresponding general resolutions. Additionally, the Constitution reiterates the public nature of the SCJN's sessions, both those held by the Plenary Court and those held by each of the sections.

Deadline for compiling the list of candidacies

Under the reform, the Senate of the Republic must publish the call for compiling the list of candidacies no later than April 30 of the year preceding the corresponding judicial election. Such call must include the stages of the procedure, dates, non-extendable deadlines, and positions to be elected.

Furthermore, the judicial administration body must inform the Senate of which positions will be subject to election, their specialization, the corresponding judicial circuit, and any other necessary information.

New rules for evaluation committees of each branch of Government

Since the prior judicial reform, evaluation committees (one for each branch of Government) were created for the purpose of screening the lists of aspiring judicial candidates. This new decree refines the competences of the committees, also creating a coordinating commission to issue specific regulations governing this matter.

First, each evaluation committee will elect a "coordinator," who will in turn form the coordinating commission. This commission will be responsible for verifying compliance with the requirements of aspiring candidates, harmonizing evaluation and selection criteria and methodologies, coordinating knowledge examinations, and issuing the resolutions that regulate the work of the committees. 

Based on the criteria issued by the commission, each evaluation committee will prepare a list of the four highest-rated individuals per position (previously ten), which will subsequently be reduced to two individuals through a public drawing, taking into account the specialization and the corresponding judicial circuit.

Once this process has concluded, each branch of Government will nominate two candidacies per position:

• Executive Branch: through the President of the Republic.
• Legislative Branch: one candidacy per Chamber, by a qualified vote of two-thirds of the legislators present.
• Judicial Branch: by resolution of the Plenary Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, approved by a majority of six votes.

Judicial districts

Additionally, the National Electoral Institute (INE) is empowered and required to divide the judicial circuits into as many judicial districts as may be necessary for the organization of the election.

Once the territorial division into districts has been completed, the INE must prepare lists of candidacies by specialization, for both circuit magistrates and district judges, identifying both the branch that nominated them and the gender of the candidates. 

Subsequently, the candidacies will be randomly assigned to the various judicial districts through a public procedure. In the event that there are fewer positions or candidacies than judicial districts, some candidacies may participate simultaneously in two or more districts, also through random assignment. It is worth noting that the assignment must be such that it guarantees that each branch of Government nominates, per district, two individuals of the same gender for each specialization.

Electoral ballots

Previously, the specific design of ballots depended to a greater extent on electoral regulations and administrative rules.

Further, the Constitution establishes minimum required elements. The electoral ballots for the judicial election must distinguish the nominating branch of Government. They must also identify, where applicable, the sitting judges seeking to continue in office or compete for a different position.

Additionally, the ballots must distinguish the applicable specializations within each territorial jurisdiction and include the full names of the candidacies. Voters must select a single candidacy per specialization.

Leaves of absence, vacancies, and judicial resignations

In addition to the foregoing, the new constitutional reform seeks to fill certain gaps that remained regarding vacancies within the Judiciary (since positions, being subject to popular election, could not simply be filled without a prior electoral process). 

In this regard, the Constitution now provides that when a circuit magistracy or a district court position becomes vacant due to death, resignation, removal, or any other permanent absence, the Judicial Administration Body shall formally declare the vacancy, and the position must be submitted to election again in the next corresponding judicial electoral process.

Likewise, the Judicial Administration Body is granted the authority to authorize leaves of absence exceeding one month for circuit magistrates and district judges, without the need for intervention by the Senate of the Republic. Lastly, it is provided that judges wishing to run for a judicial position other than the one they hold must previously resign from their position expressly and irrevocably.

Once the resignation has been submitted, the Judicial Administration Body must immediately report the vacancy so that the position may be included in the corresponding election.

State legislatures

While the 2024 judicial reform already imposed on the states the obligation to adapt their judicial systems to the new model, this decree specifies that the selection and election of local magistrates and judges must be subject, as applicable, to the same bases and procedures applicable to the Federal Judiciary, including:

1. The implementation of public, transparent, inclusive, and gender-parity evaluation and selection mechanisms.
2. The integration of evaluation committees responsible for verifying requirements and selecting the most qualified individuals for each position.
3. The reduction of candidacies through a public drawing and the nomination of candidacies in compliance with gender parity.
4. The performance evaluation of elected judges during their first year in office, as well as their ongoing training and professional development.

Transitional provisions

1. The transitional provisions of the 2024 judicial reform were modified:
   
   1. The ordinary federal elections scheduled for 2027 are postponed to 2028, namely:
      
      1. the positions of judges of the federal and state Judiciaries that were not subject to renewal in the 2025 judicial election, as well as the corresponding vacancies.
      2. magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary.
   2. The renewal of all elected positions within the state judiciaries is postponed, to be completed in the 2028 federal election.
2. The election day for federal and state judicial elections shall be held concurrently on the first Sunday of June 2028. The individuals elected on that date shall be sworn in on September 1, 2028.
3. The Congress of the Union must adapt the secondary legislation to the reform at hand before September 1, 2026 (90 calendar days from the date of entry into force).
4. The Plenary Court of the Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary must issue its internal rules of procedure no later than July 3, 2026.
5. The term of the circuit magistrates and district judges elected in the 2028 election pursuant to this decree shall last eight years, and therefore shall expire in 2036.