Legislative elections were held in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on 6 June 2021. Voters elected 500 deputies (300 in single-member constituencies by

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

and 200 by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

) to sit in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for the

65th Congress The 65th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1917, ...

. These elections took place concurrently with the country's state elections. On 5 December 2020 the National Action Party, the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

and the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (, , PRD) is a state-level social democracy, social democratic political party in Mexico (previously national, until 2024). The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 198 ...

announced an electoral alliance, '' Va por México'' ("Go For Mexico"). Morena, the Labour Party and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico formed the ''

Juntos Hacemos Historia Juntos Hacemos Historia () was a Mexican electoral alliance formed by the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), the Labor Party (Mexico), Labor Party (PT), and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) to compete in the 2021 Mexican legislativ ...

'' (″Together we make history″) coalition. Both alliances were approved by the

National Electoral Institute The Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) (Spanish for ''National Electoral Institute'') (formerly Federal Electoral Institute) (, IFE) is an autonomous, public agency responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those relat ...

(INE). On 13 April 2021 the INE cancelled the registrations of Manuel Guillermo Chapman ( Morena), Ana Elizabeth Ayala Leyva, (

Juntos Haremos Historia Juntos Haremos Historia () was a Mexican political coalition encompassing the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Labor Party (Mexico), Labor Party (PT), and Social Encounter Party (PES), the latter of which was consequently absorbed into th ...

), and Raúl Tadeo Nava ( Labor Party) for failure to certify their lack of involvement in gender violence. On 3 June, the INE warned about possible sanctions on Catholic bishops, in particular

Juan Sandoval Íñiguez Juan Sandoval Íñiguez (; born 28 March 1933) is a Mexican retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Guadalajara from 1994 to 2011. He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1994. Ecclesiastical career He is ...

, for their interference in the elections. The elections were Mexico's largest in history and were tainted by several political assassinations and the

COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to hav ...

Background

COVID-19 pandemic

Several electoral events in 2020 were disrupted by the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, leading to the postponement of the 2020 local elections from 7 June to 18 October. The

(INE) implemented health protocols to mitigate the spread of the virus, which it later deemed successful. On 3 February 2021, the INE stated that postponing the 2021 legislative election would not be advisable, with INE board president Lorenzo Córdova Vianello citing the effectiveness of the previously implemented sanitary measures. The institute also warned that a delay could trigger a constitutional crisis by preventing the timely installation of the

Electoral system

The

(INE) oversees federal elections in Mexico. Its responsibilities include organizing election day logistics, producing and distributing electoral materials, counting votes, and certifying the election results. Voters must present their voter ID at polling stations to cast their ballots. On 28 April 2021, the INE announced that there were 93,528,473 registered voters in Mexico, 32,303 registered voters abroad, and 949 registered voters in preventive detention.

Legislative election

The 500 members of the

are elected in two ways: 300 are elected in

single-member constituencies A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a Multiwinner voting, multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as ...

by plurality vote, and the remaining 200 are elected by

in five multi-member districts, with seats divided according to Hamilton's method. No party is permitted to hold more than 300 seats. Deputies are elected for three-year terms and will serve in the

. For the first time since 1933, deputies elected for the 64th Congress in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

were eligible for immediate reelection due to the 2014 electoral reform.

Political parties and coalitions

Ten national political parties were registered with the INE and were eligible to participate in federal elections: the National Action Party (PAN), the

(PRI), the

(PRD), the Labor Party (PT), the

Ecologist Green Party of Mexico The Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (, , PVEM or PVE) is a green political party in Mexico. Founded in 1986, the party is associated with Jorge González Torres and his son Jorge Emilio González Martínez. It has seldom gotten more than 10% of ...

(PVEM), Citizens' Movement (MC), the

National Regeneration Movement The National Regeneration Movement (), commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation Morena (), is a major left-wing political party in Mexico, often described as oscillating between social democracy and populism. As of 2023, it is the la ...

(Morena), the

Solidarity Encounter Party The Solidarity Encounter Party (, PES) is a state-level List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico. The party president is Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes. It is supposed to be the functional replacement for the Social Encounter ...

(PES), Progressive Social Networks (RSP), and Force for Mexico (FXM). The General Law of Political Parties stipulates that national political parties can form coalitions for elections by submitting a coalition agreement to the electoral authority. Parties cannot join coalitions in their first election. As the

(PES), Progressive Social Networks (RSP), and Force for Mexico (FXM) were newly established parties, they were not eligible for joining a coalition. Parties that do not reach 3% of the popular vote lose their registration as a national political party.

Summary

Juntos Hacemos Historia

In June 2020, Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar, president of the

(Morena), announced an alliance with the Labor Party (PT), and the

(PVEM), expressing full support for

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

's legislative agenda. On 23 December 2020, Mario Delgado, the new president of Morena, introduced the

electoral alliance, a coalition comprising Morena, PT, and PVEM. Initially planned for the coalition to run together in 150 of the 300 electoral districts, the alliance was expanded on 18 March 2021, to cover 183 districts.

Va por México

On 22 December 2020, the National Action Party (PAN), the

(PRI) and the

(PRD) formed the opposition electoral alliance Va por México. Initially planned to run together in 180 of the 300 electoral districts, on 23 December, the number was decreased to 171. On 15 February 2021, the alliance was expanded to cover a total of 219 districts. Citizens' Movement (MC) announced that they would not form an alliance with the PAN and PRD, as they had in 2018, and would instead contest the election independently, citing disagreements with the parties.

Opinion polls

Conduct

Possibility of post-election protests

Prior Mexican elections have been fraught with accusations of election fraud, this had led to massive protests after the majority of Mexican elections in the past two decades. The 2021 legislative election did not cause protests. In a speech on 14 June, President

said "We must celebrate it, because we achieved our purpose: to establish in Mexico an authentic, a true democracy."

Political assassinations

The runup to the 2021 legislative election in Mexico was filled with political assassinations. More than 91 politicians were killed, 14 of them being candidates. This political violence led to the 2021 elections being labeled as the second most deadly election since the year 2000.

Absentee voting

Mexican citizens from eleven states who live overseas can vote electronically or by mail. Most of the elections are for governor, but overseas citizens registered in Mexico City, Jalisco, and Guerrero will be able to vote in state legislative elections. INE approved a pilot program allowing prison inmates who are held in

protective custody Protective custody (PC) is a type of imprisonment (or care) to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many prison administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within pris ...

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

(District 4, Sonora);

Villa Comaltitlán Villa Comaltitlán is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 27,899, up from 26,706 as of 2005. It covers an area of 72 km². As of 2010, the town ...

, Chiapas; Coatlán del Río (District 4 Jojutla, Morelos); and Buena Vista Tomatlán (District 12 Apatzingán, Michoacán) to vote absentee from 17–19 May 2021. The present order covers only male inmates, but it may be extended to females.

Results

Approximately 49 million votes were cast in the election, with a turnout of 52.7%, a 5% increase in voter participation compared to the 2015 legislative election. This was the largest midterm election in Mexican history. The ruling coalition, ''

'', retained a 27-seat majority in the

with about 44% of the vote, but lost a significant number of seats, resulting in the loss of the two-thirds supermajority it held during the LXIV Legislature. '' Va por México'', securing 41% of the vote, won 199 seats, increasing their representation by 52 seats. Citizens' Movement earned 23 seats, a loss of 4 compared to the previous election. No newly established party secured any seats. Many commentators saw the election as an electoral stalemate for President

, as the ruling coalition only achieved a majority and not his desired two-thirds supermajority. Some said López Obrador might negotiate to bring his policies to fruition. Others said he could attempt to flex his executive muscle and brute force changes by using his powers as president.

Aftermath

Election night

At around midnight Mexico City time, the INE published its official

quick count Quick count is a method for verification of election results by projecting them from a sample of the polling stations. The similar Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) is an election observation method that is typically based on a representative rando ...

, declaring that ''

'' retained a majority in the Chamber of Deputies.

Party registrations

Based on the 2021 PREP results, all three newly established parties—the

(PES), Progressive Social Networks (RSP), and Force for Mexico (FXM)—failed to reach the 3% threshold required to maintain their registration as national political parties. This marked the second time the PES lost its registration, having previously done so in 2018 when it was known as the Social Encounter Party. On 17 June, auditors were appointed to oversee the liquidation process for the three parties. On 30 September, the INE officially declared their loss of registration.

Lawsuits

Results changes

Due to the annulment of ballot boxes in certain districts, the results in some constituencies changed, with ''

'' losing three seats and '' Va por México'' gaining three. * Baja California Sur's 1st – Changed from María Mercedes Maciel Ortiz (''Juntos Hacemos Historia'') to Marco Antonio Almendáriz Puppo (''Va por México''). * Mexico City's 3rd – Changed from Gabriela Jiménez Godoy (''Juntos Hacemos Historia'') to (''Va por México''). * Nuevo León's 3rd – Changed from José Luis García Duque (''Juntos Hacemos Historia'') to Wendy Maricela Cordero González (''Va por México'').

Notes

References

External links

Federal Electoral Institute
(in Spanish) {{Mexican elections

Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

Legislative elections in Mexico

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results