Day 594 — Sheinbaum Proposes Constitutional Reform to Postpone Next Judicial Elections to June 2028

On May 18, 2026 (Day 594, Monday), President Claudia Sheinbaum announced at her morning mañanera that she will submit a constitutional reform initiative to Congress to postpone the next round of federal Judicial Power elections from 2027 to June 4, 2028. RATIONALE: The government cited two main justifications: (1) logistical and budgetary efficiency — the 2027 judicial elections would overlap with gubernatorial and local elections in 18 states, creating administrative conflicts and inflated costs for the INE; (2) improved candidate-screening filters — the revised selection process will incorporate additional vetting mechanisms to improve quality of judicial candidates. The reform would be processed through an extraordinary congressional session, leveraging Morena's supermajority coalition. CONTEXT: The postponement is the third act of Mexico's sweeping judicial reform: Phase 1 covered the June 2025 SCJN elections (9 justices elected, all perceived as Morena-aligned from the 'acordeón' candidate guide); Phase 2 the wider federal appellate and circuit court roll-out; Phase 3 (now proposed for 2028 instead of 2027) covers the remaining 2,681 judicial posts. Critics from PAN and MC immediately framed the postponement as government backtracking on the reform's own electoral mandate and as an admission that the 13% turnout and 20%+ blank ballot rate of June 2025 were politically embarrassing. The government denied this interpretation, emphasizing cost savings and logistics. La Jornada and Expansión Política confirmed the day after that the proposal was formally advancing toward Congress for an extraordinary session vote.