The electoral frenzy in which Mexico is currently immersed focuses mainly on the candidates who will compete for the Presidency of the Republic, governorships and mayors offices.
However, voters must also take into account that on July 1 they will elect the deputies and senators who will represent them in the Congress of the Union.
For this reason, Mid-Point — with the support of the political scientist Juan Pablo Galicia and the analyst Eduardo Ancona Bolio — explains the functions performed by both local and federal deputies, as well as senators.
How is the Congress of the Union made up?
Federal deputies
The chambers of federal deputies and senators combine to form the Congress of the Union and to form the Legislative Power of the federation, which is in charge of creating, reforming or repealing all laws that govern the entire country.
However, although deputies and senators are equally dedicated to analyzing the country’s problems and generating laws that generate solutions for them, each one has specific functions in accordance with what the Mexican Constitution dictates.
In this way, the federal deputies have as another important attribution to approve the budget of the federation, that is, to define how the Federal Government can spend money during a determined period.
Senators
The Senators of the Republic, who can also identify themselves as federal legislators of the Upper House, can review what the House of Representatives legislates, although they can also initiate laws from their own chamber.
In the same way, the Senate has the specific constitutional right to be the constitution’s guarantor; in other words, it is the body established for the states, through their representatives, to ensure that the union of all the territories that make up Mexico are maintained. For this reason, senators are elected by states of the republic.
In turn, the Chamber of Senators is the only body with the ability to dissolve the powers of a State, a faculty that even the executive does not have.
In addition, the Senate of the Republic is in charge of approving all international treaties and foreign policies signed by the President of the Mexican Republic.
Multi-member deputies
To better understand these legislative figures, it must first be said that there are two ways to reach the Chamber of Deputies: by popular route — the candidate campaigns and wins if he gets more votes from the people on election day — and by the Plurinominal.
The second option starts with the political parties, which, long before the election, generate a numbered list of candidates. They will not go out to seek the vote or campaign directly.
How do they get to power then?
Very simple: after the election, the federal authority — the INE in this case — establishes, according to the percentage of votes that has been obtained globally, how many members of the list that each party drafted may have a seat.
It is common to read or listen to opinions that condemn the plurinominal deputy figures, given the enormous expense that both the Chamber of Deputies and Senators represent for Mexico.
However, it is necessary to remember that, until the 1980s, only one political party, the PRI, won all the elections in all the districts.
This caused that, in the year 1977, the Constitution and the electoral laws were reformed to guarantee that the political minorities also have representation in the Congress through the figure of the plurinominal legislator, which, of course, will have the same functions as those who arrived at the Congress by popular vote.
To consider the ramifications of this, imagine that Party “X” wins in the five districts that make up “Z” state. Would that be very democratic? Would you be representing citizens who do not think the same as the “X” party?
Evidently not. That is why this plurinominal exists, and therefore, the electoral authorities, according to the number of global votes that PRI, PAN, PRD, Morena, Nueva Alianza or PVEM have obtained in the election, will designate how many members of that list will be able to reach the Congress.
Text: Martín Arias and Alejandro Fitzmaurice // Punto Medio
Photos: Courtesy
