Chamber of Deputies Approves 'Plan B' Electoral Reform; Senate Had Already Passed It

Mexico's Chamber of Deputies approved the 'Plan B' electoral reform on April 9, with both chambers now having passed the measure. The Senate had approved the bill in late March 2026. The reform — a fallback after Sheinbaum's original constitutional electoral reform bill failed to secure the required two-thirds supermajority in November 2025, when PT and PVEM coalition partners withheld votes — took a lower-ambition approach. Instead of redesigning the electoral system, Plan B focused on austerity measures for political institutions: reducing the number of seats in local state congresses, cutting Senate staffing and budgets, aligning political salaries with austerity principles, and strengthening popular consultation mechanisms. The reform must be fully enacted by April 30, 2026 to apply to the 2027 midterm elections. Opposition PAN and Movimiento Ciudadano rejected the measure, arguing it was a pretext for reducing institutional checks without addressing democratic quality.