Analyzing Mexico’s 2025 Judicial Elections

Expert panel on “Analyzing Mexico’s 2025 Judicial Elections” on Monday, June 16 at 9:00am Pacific. This panel discussion is co-sponsored by the Justice in Mexico program at the University of San Diego (USD), the Estación Noreste de Investigación y Docencia del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas (IIJ) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and the Mexico Country Office of the World Justice Project. The panel will be streamed live on our Facebook platform (www.facebook.com/JusticeinMexico). 

Panelists will discuss the historic and controversial judicial elections held in Mexico on June 1, 2025. In that election, citizens voted for the first time directly for over 2,680 judicial positions at the federal and state levels, including ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). Post election reports have highlighted concerns about the election’s legitimacy, citing low voter turnout (around 13%) and the widespread distribution of “acordeones” (cheat sheets) that allegedly guided voters toward candidates favored by the ruling Morena party. Recently released official results indicate a perfect correlation between the “official” candidates listed on these “acordeones” and elected to key judicial roles, particularly within the SCJN, raising serious questions about the election’s fairness and independence. 

Featured panelists include attorneys, jurists, and judicial sector experts from Mexico, the United States, and Colombia: 

Carmen Adriana Blanco Niño, Attorney & International Electoral Observer, Justice in Mexico 

Stephanie Brewer, Director for Mexico, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) 

José Antonio Caballero Juárez, Researcher, Investigación y Docencia del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas (UNAM)

Laura Calderón, Executive Director, Justice in Mexico Foundation

Michael Mandig, Attorney, International Electoral Observer, & Board Member, Justice in Mexico Foundation

Alejandra Rios Cázares, Director, Mexico Country Office, World Justice Project 

David A. Shirk, Director, Justice in Mexico, University of San Diego

Victor Torres, Judge, Superior Court of California

Juan Vega Gómez, Director, Estación Noroeste de Investigación y Docencia del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México