Abstract

MENDEZ DE HOYOS, Irma; GROMPING, Max; MARTINEZ I COMA, Ferran  and  LOZA OTERO, Nicolás. Electoral Integrity and Subnational Electoral Management Bodies in Mexico: The Role of Impartiality. Región y sociedad [online]. 2021, vol.33, e1485.  Epub Nov 16, 2021. ISSN 2448-4849.  https://doi.org/10.22198/rys2021/33/1485.

Objective: to analyze the quality of governor and deputy elections in Mexico in the 2015-2018 period. To what extent did the quality depend on the performance of the electoral bodies? Methodology: the perspective of electoral integrity is used. The main source of data comes from a survey of more than seven hundred electoral experts. Results: the hypothesis about the relevance of the electoral administration for the integrity of subnational elections in Mexico is confirmed, in particular one of its attributes: impartiality, or the application of the law without political biases. Limitations: the external indicators used to measure the performance of electoral management bodies are imperfect proxies, which cannot be applicable to other contexts. Value: studying local elections in Mexico from the perspective of electoral integrity, using original data and placing in the center of the analysis the role of electoral management bodies to increase their quality. Conclusions: given the heterogeneity of democratic development levels, it is relevant to study the quality of elections in Mexico at a subnational level, which depends, among other factors, on the impartiality of electoral bodies.

Keywords : subnational elections; electoral integrity; electoral management bodies; impartiality; professionalism.