Mexico's election authority removed two safeguards against ballot stuffing
Both changes passed 7 to 4 on September 3, 2026, nine months before Mexico votes for its entire Chamber of Deputies and for offices in all 32 states.
- A Mexican ballot cannot fit through the slot of the ballot box unless it is folded. A flat ballot inside the box is physical evidence it was put in some other way.
- Until now, flat ballots were void by default. In 2025 that single rule accounted for 476 of 818 polling stations annulled nationwide.
- On September 3, 2026, the governing majority of Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE) voted 7 to 4 to end automatic annulment. Each of 300 district councils now decides.
- The same seven votes removed the screening that kept federal social program operators out of the election observer corps.
- The ballot boxes for the 2025 election came, by direct award, from a supplier that Mexico's own Financial Intelligence Unit had frozen in 2023. Its former legal representative was later put in charge of INE's budget.
01 · The numbersWhat changed, measured
Official votes: INE agreements INE/CG542/2026 and INE/CG548/2026. Reported 20, 918 and 476 of 818: INE Councilor Martín Faz in session and La Jornada, September 2026.
02 · The physicsWhy a flat ballot is evidence
The slot is about 3 millimeters wide and 12 centimeters long. The federal deputies ballot is 20 by 28 centimeters. Even its short side is wider than the slot. To vote, a citizen must fold the ballot. A marked ballot found completely flat did not go through the slot.
In Mexico this is known as the "pregnant ballot box": a box filled with pre-marked ballots before the polls open or after they close.
03 · The rule, in INE's own wordsWhat was approved
"The absence of fold marks will trigger this procedure, but will not by itself determine that the ballot must cease to be counted."
Original: "La ausencia de marcas de doblez será el supuesto que activa este procedimiento, pero no determinará por sí sola que la boleta deba dejar de computarse."
Guideline V.10(c), Annex to Agreement INE/CG542/2026 · translationUnder the new rule a flat ballot is set aside, an incident is recorded, and the district council later decides whether to count it. That decision is made after the ballot package has left the polling station and the party witnesses who watched the count.
INE's position, in fairness: the absence of folds is not an express ground of nullity in the statute; a 2025 Electoral Tribunal criterion bars excluding votes by administrative criteria; and a reasoned district decision can be appealed. INE's official statement says such ballots "will be neither validated nor discarded automatically."
The response: a flat ballot is not an administrative criterion. It is physical evidence of how the paper got in, the same evidence INE itself used to annul 476 polling stations in 2025.
04 · The voteWho decided
| Councilor | Flat ballots (CG542) | Observer screening (CG548) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guadalupe Taddei Zavala | For | For | Council President since 2023 |
| Frida Denisse Gómez Puga | For | For | Author of both proposals; appointed April 2026 |
| Blanca Yassahara Cruz García | For | For | Appointed April 2026 |
| Arturo Manuel Chávez López | For | For | Appointed April 2026 |
| Jorge Montaño Ventura | For | For | |
| Norma Irene De la Cruz Magaña | For | For | |
| Uuc-kib Espadas Ancona | For | For | Also backed the opposing proposal and argued the physics on the record |
| Martín Faz, Carla Humphrey, Arturo Castillo, Rita Bell López Vences | Against | Against | Dissent on the record |
Official Votes as recorded in the published agreements. The three councilors appointed on April 21, 2026 were approved 334 to 127, with the votes of Morena, PT and the Green Party.
05 · The supply chainWho built the ballot boxes
After declaring its tender void, INE made a direct award in February 2025 to Cajas Graf, jointly with TOL Producciones, for 63,549 ballot boxes and 432,745 voting booths for the 2025 judicial election.
Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit froze Cajas Graf and a related company, Corporativo Zeg, in 2023 on suspicion of money laundering. They later won rulings on procedural grounds; no court ruled on whether the funds were lawful.
The companies' former legal representative, Jesús Octavio García González, was appointed by Council President Taddei to run INE's administration in September 2025. Press reported his departure in April 2026. Before joining INE, Taddei (Sonora, 2021) and former Executive Secretary Claudia Arlett Espino (Chihuahua, 2021) had each contracted Cajas Graf as heads of state electoral institutes.
Reported Contract amounts and the representative's role come from published reporting (Milenio, El Imparcial, Latinus, Político MX) and are pending verification against primary contracts, which have been requested. No causal link between the supplier and the 2025 flat ballots is alleged; the request is that both be reviewed.
06 · Why it matters to the United StatesThree reasons
Counterparts. The body that certifies who governs Mexico's states and Congress in 2027 determines the officials the United States will work with on cartels, fentanyl, migration and trade.
Precedent. The State Department has adopted visa restriction policies for undermining democracy in Sudan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Georgia and Ghana. The Zimbabwe policy expressly covers "manipulating or rigging the electoral process." There is none for Mexico.
Timing. A policy announced before June 6, 2027 deters. After, it can only respond.
07 · What is requestedFour filings, dated September 23, 2026
| Authority | Legal basis | Request |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | INA § 212(a)(3)(C) | A Visa Restriction Policy for Undermining Democracy in Mexico before June 6, 2027, and review of six councilors under it |
| Treasury (OFAC) and State | E.O. 13818; 22 U.S.C. § 10102; Section 7031(c) | Corruption review of the officials and suppliers in the procurement chain |
| DOJ and FBI | 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956, 1957, 981 | Check whether any proceeds touched the U.S. financial system or U.S. property; no nexus is alleged |
| Senate Foreign Relations and Banking; House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services | 22 U.S.C. § 10102(d) | A joint Chair and Ranking Member request, which requires a determination within 120 days. A request before February 6, 2027 yields an answer before election day |
08 · Key datesTimeline
- February 2025INE awards ballot boxes and booths directly to Cajas Graf and TOL Producciones.
- June 2025Judicial election: 918 flat-ballot cases; 476 polling stations annulled for that cause.
- September 2025The suppliers' former legal representative is put in charge of INE's administration.
- April 21, 2026Three new councilors appointed, 334 to 127.
- September 3, 2026Both safeguards removed, 7 to 4.
- September 9, 2026INE's Executive Secretary resigns, one day before the electoral process begins.
- September 2026Opposition parties appeal both agreements to the Electoral Tribunal; ruling pending.
- February 6, 2027Last date for a congressional Global Magnitsky request to be answered before the election.
- June 6, 2027Election day.
09 · Primary documentsRead the originals
INE Agreement INE/CG542/2026 (count guidelines, including Guideline V.10 and the vote).
INE Agreement INE/CG548/2026 (observer calls, including the vote on removing the screening).
INE official statement on unfolded ballots, September 11, 2026.
INE statement on the Executive Secretary's resignation, September 9, 2026.
Presumption of innocence: this brief documents public votes, institutional acts and published reporting. No person named is accused of a crime. Translations from Spanish are the author's.