Executive Summary
Mexico, a relatively young democracy, conducted its largest election to date on June 2, 2024, electing nearly 20,000 officials, from the president of the republic to city mayors. Claudia Sheinbaum, the ruling party's presidential candidate, won with 57% of the votes. She is now the first woman in history to become president of the United Mexican States.
The 2024 electoral process was marked by extensive disinformation campaigns targeting all three presidential candidates. Notable incidents included false claims about voting dates, fabricated statements attributed to candidates, and conspiracy theories designed to manipulate voter sentiment and suppress votes.
Claudia Sheinbaum received more votes than any previous candidate, surpassing López Obrador's 2018 vote count of 30 million. Despite the efforts of organizations to promote voting and provide useful information about the electoral process, the 2024 election saw a lower voter turnout compared to 2018¹.
Since the beginning of his mandate, López Obrador's communication strategy built a foundation of general skepticism regarding any kind of information published by the media or foreign news organizations. The official discourse–based on the schism between López Obrador´s proposed transformation and the conservative political ideology of the opposition–created a general atmosphere of distrust in institutions, the media, and the electoral process.
Concurrently, Mexico is experiencing unprecedented violence, with record-high homicide and femicide rates, significantly stifling economic activity and tourism. During the 2023-2024 electoral period, Data Cívica reported 130 candidates were violently attacked, with 34 killed.² Additionally, the Break the Fear of Civic Data Network documented 33 cases of violence against the press on election day.
Women face severe political violence too, including online harassment and physical threats, which has undermined their participation and perpetuated gender inequality in the political sphere.³ Despite this violence, Mexico has today a woman president and will soon have thirteen women state governors, a step forward for political representation.⁴
Carina Garcia, "¿Cuánta gente votó por AMLO en 2018 y cuántos votos tuvo Sheinbaum en 2024?," Expansión Política, June 3, 2024, https://politica.expansion.mx/elecciones/2024/06/03/cuanta-gente-voto-por-amlo-2028.
"Votar entre balas," Data Cívica, Accessed July 1, 2024,https://votar-entre-balas.datacivica.org/reportes.
"Informate Rompe el Miedo," #RompeElMiedo, Accessed July 1, 2024, https://informaterompeelmiedo.mx.
"Estados gobernados por mujeres en 2024: ¿cuáles son?," Telediario, Accessed July 1, 2024, https://www.telediario.mx/politica/elecciones/estados-gobernados-por-mujeres-en-2024-cuales-son.
