TEEM revoked elections in Ecatepec to elect auxiliary authorities

The Electoral Tribunal of the State of Mexico (TEEM) decided on Saturday morning, March 26, to revoke the elections of the Citizen Participation Councils (Copacis) of the municipality of Ecatepec. This was done during the 8th public session of the Plenary.

The elections were to take place this Sunday, March 27, in which the auxiliary authorities, delegates, sub-delegates and members of Copacis would be elected for the period 2022-2025 in more than 300 colonies of the municipality.

The judges' decision came as a result of the fact that the stipulated requirements were classified as “excessive”, so the call issued by the City Council of Ecatepec on March 9 was left without effect.

And it is that some residents of the municipality denounced that they were denied their registration to participate in the electoral process this weekend. As part of the requirements to be able to run for a popularly elected office, those interested had to submit a government project that would be governed by the following axes: combating corruption, protecting the environment, recovering public spaces, social inclusion, social policy, territorial policy and security.

In view of this, they asked the authorities to issue a new call “in which no higher requirements are requested than those allowed”, as well as to allow more time in the deadlines of the application for registration and stipulate a period to “remedy the omissions and/or deficiencies” of the previous call.

In response, the municipal government of Ecatepec released a statement in which it reported on a new call that will be announced in the coming days with the observations made by neighbors.

For his part, the local deputy for the Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena) party, Daniel Sibaja González, endorsed the TEEM resolution and estimated that the new Copacis elections will be held by the beginning of April.

Since Friday, March 25, neighbors and civil organizations warned of multiple inconsistencies in the election process. On social networks they reported that, despite being trained for hours to obtain their registration, the doors were closed to them.

Some neighbors even pointed out that, although in some colonies there were two or three squads competing, in others only one had been registered and in many others the Municipal Electoral Council would be responsible for appointing the auxiliary authorities.

For her part, the president of the organization Ecatepec Unido, Elsa María Arroyo Hernández, commented that there were also those who were unable to obtain registration because they did not have two main documents: the home record and the report of the municipal comptroller's office.

Thus, a demonstration was called for Friday, March 25, which would begin at the Fierro Bridge and conclude in the municipal seat of Ecatepec, under the demand that they be allowed to register in a new call.

According to the newspaper La Jornada, various organizations such as Ecatepec Unido, Neighborhoods of the Wind, The Congress of Women of Ecatepec, United Women, Luviss and People's Defenders for Ecatepec participated in the mobilization.

KEEP READING: