Electoral Court Confirms Winner in Puebla Governor Election

Martha Erika Alonso was confirmed as the Governor of Puebla, Mexico.

The Electoral Tribunal of Puebla (TEEP) confirmed a victory for Martha Erika Alonso, the National Action Party (PAN) candidate, in the race for governor in the central Mexican state of Puebla on October 10. The certification followed contention by the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) of voter fraud during the general election on July 1. The local body did so after the Electoral Tribunal of Federation Judicial Power (TEPJF) conducted a recount and found the voting irregularities affected less than one percent of the total vote.

General dissatisfaction with the major parties in Mexico led to an overwhelming victory for Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his MORENA Party in local and federal elections. In Puebla, the majority of voters supported AMLO, and MORENA swept 15 of the 16 Federal Deputy offices and 21 of the 26 Local Deputy offices. Given this momentum, MORENA supporters questioned the validity of Alonso’s victory, believing that their candidate for governor, Miguel Barbosa, should have won. AMLO himself expressed that Alonso’s win “cannot be explained with common sense” and urged the TEPJF to investigate.

MORENA claimed that violence at polling booths and voting irregularities allowed Martha Alonso to win outright. The TEPJF investigated these claims and conducted a recount of the ballots, but did not find evidence to support these accusations. The TEEP found that both of these issues affected just 59 polling stations, not constituting enough of the vote to have  changed the election’s outcome. The body also investigated claims that Alonso had violated campaign finance laws and declared the accusations unfounded, given that Alonso was about ten million pesos below the spending cap. The TEEP unanimously concluded that the claims were unfounded.

AMLO remarked how illogical it is that MORENA garnered so much of the vote in Puebla and won the majority of municipal, state, and federal offices, but managed to lose the governor’s mansion by any margin. The spokesperson for the governor-elect’s transition team expressed hope that the recount and findings by the TEEP will assuage concerns and generate confidence in the populace.

When the TEPJF first began its recount of ballots, Martha Erika Alonso expressed on Twitter her confidence that the process would give the “absolute certainty of triumph that we have obtained for the governorship of Puebla.” She also shared her reported campaign spending with the TEEP to refute claims of her supposed unlawful spending. After the TEEP announced its decision, Alonso expressed on Twitter her satisfaction with the transparency of the process and the “reaffirmation of the will of Poblanos… in this historic election that almost reached 78 percent turnout rate.” Her opponent, Miguel Barbosa, reiterated his interest in pushing the TEPJF to take up the case, accusing the local body of having bias against him.