Federal Electoral Tribunal

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The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (Spanish: Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación, or TEPJF) is a venue within the judiciary of Mexico that specialises in electoral matters. Among its functions are resolving disputes arising within federal elections and certifying the validity of those elections, including those of the President of the Republic. ^[1] (Responsibility for declaring a candidate the winner in presidential elections previously fell to the Chamber of Deputies.)

It comprises a permanent seven-member Superior Chamber (Sala Superior), located in the Federal District, and five Regional Chambers (Salas Regionales), one in each of the circumscriptions into which the country is divided for the purposes of organising congressional elections. These Regional Chambers comprise three judges each, and are temporary in nature, sitting only during those years in which federal elections are held, and are based in the cities of Guadalajara, Monterrey, Xalapa, Mexico City, and Toluca.

There were two direct precursors of the TEPJF:

The Electoral Disputes Tribunal (Tribunal de lo Contencioso Electoral, TCE), an administrative (not judicial) body, that was in existence from 1986 to 1989.
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Federal Electoral, TRIFE), created by means of a series of constitutional amendments enacted in 1990, the same reforms whereby the Federal Electoral Institute was established. This tribunal was superseded by the current Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary in 1996.

The TEPJF is frequently referred to in the media by the acronym of its predecessor, the TRIFE.

The seven magistrates who currently sit in the Superior Chamber are:

Leonel Castillo González (president)
Eloy Fuentes Cerda
José Alejandro Luna Ramos
Alfonsina Berta Navarro Hidalgo
J. Fernando Ojesto Martínez Porcayo
J. de Jesús Orozco Henríquez
Mauro Miguel Reyes Zapata

1 2006
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] 2006

Notwithstanding Andrés Manuel López Obrador's claims in the streets and in the press, on 5 August 2006 the Federal Electoral Tribunal declared in a unanimous ruling that the Alliance for the Good of All had failed to file valid complaints that would substantiate a claim for a complete national recount. Based on the valid complaints filed, the Tribunal ordered and conducted a recount of the votes in 9.07% of the precincts. In the partial recount, the Tribunal found that no evidence of wide-spread fraud. It did, however, find errors in the tally sheets and, in rectifying those errors, it corrected the final election results by adding and subtracting from each candidate to accord with the number of valid ballots cast for each. See Acuerdo relacionado con la ejecución de diversas sentencias interlocutorias emitidas el cinco de agosto de dos mil seis at [1].

Based on those results, on 5 September 2006 the Tribunal certified the PAN candidate Felipe Calderón as the lawfully elected next President of Mexico. See Dictamen relativo al cómputo final de la elección de Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, declaración de validez de la elección y de presidente electo at [2]. Under law as reformed in the 1990s by Congress (including representatives of both the PAN and the PRD), this legal ruling of the independent Federal Electoral Tribunal is final.