Plan B for Electoral Reform Advances in Mexican Senate – March 20, 2026

Mexico’s Senate received the “Plan B” electoral reform proposal on Wednesday, March 18th, and has referred it to committee for analysis, according to reports from Las Mangas del Chaleco and multiple national news outlets.

The initiative, a revised version of a broader electoral reform effort, includes modifications to constitutional articles and secondary laws impacting local governance, electoral structures, and the possibility of revoking a president’s mandate. According to UnoTV, the proposal seeks to limit the number of council members in municipalities to a maximum of 15, and cap the budgets of state congresses at 0.70% of each state’s overall budget.

A key point of contention within the plan, as highlighted by Movimiento Ciudadano coordinator Jorge Álvarez Máynez in reporting by UnoTV, concerns the timing and conditions surrounding the revocation of mandate. The proposal would move the date of any such vote to the first Sunday of June in the third or fourth year of a presidential term, coinciding with federal elections. It would as well allow the targeted official to campaign against the recall effort, a provision Máynez criticized given the possibility of a future vote during the term of Mexico’s first female president.

Politico.mx reported that President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the delivery of the plan to the Senate on March 17th. The proposal also aims to reduce salaries for advisors at the National Electoral Institute (INE) and magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal, ensuring they do not exceed the president’s salary. Savings generated from these measures are intended to be allocated to public infrastructure projects at the municipal and state levels.

Senator Ignacio Mier Velazco indicated, according to El Financiero, that the Senate could approve the “Plan B” before the Easter recess. The proposal now enters a period of committee review before a potential vote by the full Senate.