Unlike United States, Mexico has a different way to manage money in politics. First of all, sponsoring political parties is illegal. On the other hand, we have a centralized institution (INE) that manages and controls the funding going to each political party. All the funding goes directly from the taxes Mexicans pay, and it is divided depending on how many votes the political party had on the last presidential elections.
If a political party has less than 3% of the total votes, the National Electoral Institute (INE) takes away its funding and cancels the registration of the political party.
Fun fact: This year's presidential elections were considered the most legitimate in history.
This is such a vital piece of information to understand the election process in Mexico.
Could you please share some other resources (such as articles/journals to refer) so that we can gain a deeper understanding of the electoral process? '
Thank you so much!
I am glad you showed interest! Here are some links that might be helpful: https://portalanterior.ine.mx/archivos3/portal/historico/contenido/The_Mexican_Electoral_System/ https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/infographic-mexicos-electoral-process If you have more doubts, feel free to ask me :)
Have there been any cases of sabotage in Mexico, where a larger party prevents a smaller one from getting 3% of the vote?
Nope, because the National Electoral Institute, is the one that organizes the elections and keeps an eye on both the political parties and the elections. Besides, if there was the case, the INE has the jurisdiction to impose a punishment.
Do you think there are ways for the US to adopt a similar system in order to curb the ongoing corruption occurring in campaign finance?
I believe it'd be hard for the US to implement this system, due to the fact that the way they have been doing it, is extremely ingrained to their cultural roots. On the other hand, the fact that this system uses public funding to finance both the elections and itself, will be a little bit problematic for the citizens because it can be linked to a way of corruption.
Does the political party in control have any power over the INE?