In Mexico, president considers legislative rather than constitutional changes for electoral reform

The ruling Morena party will pursue a “Plan B” to pass the federal government’s proposed electoral reform, changing legislation through secondary laws rather than amending the constitution, President López Obrador announced [...]. To make constitutional changes, Morena requires support from the opposition parties. However, the ruling party’s simple majority in Congress is enough to make secondary changes without achieving a consensus.  The president also called on his supporters to march in defense of the proposed electoral reform on November 27. His announcement follows a nation-wide demonstration against the reform and in favor of the National Electoral Institute (INE) on Sunday in which an estimated 500,000 people protested across the country. [...] The reform proposes replacing the INE with a centralized electoral authority, reducing the number of electoral councilors, and selecting electoral officials through a citizen vote, among other changes. [...] Despite the governing party’s threats that it will pass its desired electoral changes through secondary laws, this may not be possible without violating the constitution. Morena Senator Ricardo Monreal conceded that the most controversial components of the electoral reform, including structural changes to the INE and reducing the number of proportional representation seats in Congress, would not be possible without changing the constitution.
Read the full article here: Mexico News Daily