Six Facts to Understand Mexico's 2025 Judicial Elections

Mexican voters cast ballots for 881 federal judicial roles, as well as roughly 1,800 local-level roles across 19 states. But even before that, the selection process involved a gargantuan number of hopefuls: some 34,000 people initially applied to be candidates, with 480 people bidding for Supreme Court seats alone. The process of whittling down the total number of candidates involved everything from a lottery to congressional approval, resulting in 7,700 candidates for all seats and 64 rivals for the nine Supreme Court seats. While the number was significantly smaller than the starting point, voters faced challenges making informed voting decisions. A May 2025 Enkoll/El País poll found that only 23 percent of respondents were familiar with the candidates. 

Abstention rates ran high in this electoral round, with the Mexican electoral agency’s preliminary turnout estimation running from 12.6 to 13.3 percent. For comparison, turnout in last year’s presidential election was 61 percent. In fact, Claudia Sheinbaum won almost three times as many votes in 2024 compared to the 13 million people overall who cast ballots in this election. As an on-the-ground account by the Mexican Political Economist reported, any long wait at a voting site was more likely due to the amount of time it took to review the large number of ballots than because of crowds. 

Voting is not mandatory in Mexico. There is no minimum vote number needed for the results to be binding in these judicial elections. 

With the electoral reform, the number of Supreme Court justices will decrease from 11 to nine. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes will preside over the court. Overall, the five candidates who win the largest number of votes will hold their seats for 11 years while the four who receive fewer will have a tenure of eight years. Justices previously served 15-year terms. 

Out of the 11 justices in the current court, only three—Lenia Batres, Yasmín Esquivel, and Loretta Ortiz—chose to participate in the elections. Initial results indicate that all three, who were appointed to their current seats during the presidency of López Obrador, are expected to secure 11-year seats. 

Norma Piña, the current head of the court, was among the eight judges who chose not to run. 

While it is estimated that the Supreme Court outcome will be released within a couple days of the vote, most results will take more time. Mexico’s electoral agency began counting votes when centers closed on Sunday, June 1, and district counts will take place over a 10-day period. Full results are expected to be released two weeks after the vote, on Sunday, June 15.

When it comes to public opinion, even if turnout was low, most Mexicans viewed the judicial elections as “necessary,” with some 72 percent describing it as such in the Enkoll/El País poll. Overall, 65 percent also said the elections would increase citizens’ “confidence and legitimacy” in the judiciary, while 60 percent believed the votes would help reduce impunity and corruption. Rule of law is a primary concern in Mexico, where the UN estimates that 96 percent of cases go unresolved. 

Meanwhile, an El Financiero exit poll found that 54 percent of respondents picked candidates they viewed as supportive of the ruling party as opposed to 38 percent who chose contenders they considered independent. Still, the largest portion—48 percent—said they voted based on candidates’ judicial experience, while 20 percent said their choices were based on ideology.

The most notable person to cast a ballot on June 1 was arguably López Obrador. In the eight months since handing power over to Sheinbaum, the former president has kept a low profile. He voted in Palenque in the state of Chiapas, where his ranch is located.