Despite advances in political rights for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican populations, racism and discrimination against these groups persist in the electoral process, hindering the full participation of this segment of the population.

Since 2017, the National Electoral Institute (INE) has created affirmative action, a series of guidelines that encourage the inclusion of certain population groups in the slates of national political parties for deputy and senate positions.

The INE is requesting 39 nominations from each party for Indigenous people and five for Afro-Mexicans, despite this being a minimal percentage compared to the total number of positions being filled this year . Civil organizations and online users have reported that national political parties are nominating individuals for these quotas who do not belong to the groups benefiting from affirmative action .

What are Affirmative Actions?

Historically, certain vulnerable groups have been excluded from various decision-making forums.

Affirmative action is a public policy whose objective is to compensate for the conditions that discriminate against certain social groups in the exercise of their political and electoral rights, and to represent the decisions of their population in the creation and voting of laws or the allocation of budgets.

Affirmative action related to ethnicity, such as the indigenous and Afro-Mexican populations, applies to electoral districts where the population concentration is at least 60 percent.

In Mexico, 13 states have nominations for indigenous and Afro-Mexican people , even though nearly 19% of the Mexican population identifies as part of an indigenous community , according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography ( Inegi ).

Indigenous People

Affirmative action for Indigenous people has been modified since its incorporation. Of the 39 nominations, 34 are for deputy positions, while 5 are for the Senate.

Of the total number of candidates seeking a seat in Congress through affirmative action, 21 will be elected by relative majority (highest number of votes on election day), 11 of whom must be women.

The remaining seats will be assigned by proportional representation (those with at least 3% of the valid votes cast).

For the Senate , of the five candidates, four must be elected by relative majority and the rest by proportional representation.

The states where affirmative action to self-identified indigenous people are Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, the State of Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán.

Afro-Mexican people

Starting in November 2023, Afro-Mexicans were added to the affirmative action list. Of the five required nominations, four are for a deputy seat and one for the Senate, respecting the principle of gender parity.

Of the affirmative action candidates for Congress, three nominations must be selected by relative majority (those who obtain the most votes on election day) and the remaining by proportional representation (those with at least 3% of the valid votes cast).

In the case of the Senate, the Afro-Mexican candidate will be in the upper or lower block depending on where the person proposed for sexual diversity is assigned.

The usurpation of affirmative action generates racism

Although the percentage of affirmative action candidates is proportionally low compared to the total number of positions to be filled in this election, national political parties have placed candidates who do not belong to the groups that represent affirmative action.

On March 13, 2024 , the General Council of the INE publicly reprimanded the Labor Party (PT), Citizen Movement (MC), and National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) for not meeting the requirements regarding gender parity and affirmative action when attempting to register “false” Indigenous and Afro-Mexicans.

Among the registrations that were canceled for Senate candidates are those due to Indigenous affirmative action:

Regarding federal deputy seats , the INE recorded the following non-compliances, most of which belong to the Citizen Movement party.

Furthermore, since the start of the electoral process, a dozen complaints have been filed against candidates running for indigenous AA, some of which are related to the state of Hidalgo , where media outlets have reported that organizations are seeking to challenge six candidates.

In Campeche, the Electoral Institute of the State of Campeche , on April 8, 2023, requested the Democratic Space Party to comply with affirmative actions, due to "lack of concordance with the Guidelines for the Registration of Candidates and the Guidelines for Indigenous Self-Ascription."

Meanwhile, in Morelos, users mentioned the case of candidate Tania Valentina Rodríguez Ruiz (PT), who for the fourth time self-identifies as Afro-Mexican, as well as Jonathan Márquez (PRI), who received a challenge from Morena Impepac for accessing affirmative action as an indigenous person.

In Quintana Roo, Senate candidate Anahí Gonzalez of the Morena party was challenged for identifying as an indigenous .

In Yucatán, members of the Morena-Green Party alliance challenged the candidacies of Julián Zacarías Curi and Esteban Abraham Macarí for not speaking indigenous languages. In just one month, the Yucatán State Electoral Tribunal has resolved several affirmative action cases.

Animal Político reported that according to information from the INE, other candidates were challenged, such as Nestor Néstor Camarillo, Juan José Canul Pérez, as well as Jazmín Yaneli Villanueva Moo and Jorge Luis Sánchez Reyes.

Usurpation and indifference is violence

Among the requirements for accessing public office through affirmative action are: belonging to an Indigenous community, speaking the language, being a descendant of an Indigenous group, having represented said group, being a member of an Indigenous civil association , and having a certificate of self-designation issued by an authority.

However, these broad requirements are used to promote candidates who are not members of indigenous communities, according to Gisela Carlos Fregoso , a doctor, educational researcher, and collaborator with the Collective to Eliminate Racism in Mexico (COPERA).

“Asking for papers and more papers, I understand, and researchers, activists, even Indigenous people understand, is that they do it so that mestizo and white people don't get hung up on something that doesn't belong to them, don't get hung up on and don't occupy positions that don't belong to them because they haven't experienced the historical inequality that Indigenous and Afro people have suffered, it's understandable. The problem comes when the government puts these obstacles in the way of Indigenous people, and those who don't apply the full rigor of the law and the rigor of evaluation, are mestizo and white people,” he mentioned in an interview about affirmative action.

Representativeness is important, because the Legislative Branch is where initiatives necessary to benefit vulnerable groups can be promoted, as well as where reforms that could affect people's rights or quality of life can be voted against or in favor of.

Affirmative action on their payrolls doesn't matter if we're ignored in every public policy, proposal, and plan even before we get to the chair. #DebateINE #DebatePresidencial2024 #DebateX

— Majo Trejo (@IamMajoTrejo) April 8, 2024

https://x.com/IamMajoTrejo/status/1777185907935785080

https://x.com/IamMajoTrejo/status/1777185907935785080

In an interview with Verificado, José Antonio Aguilar , director of the organization RacismoMX , explains that although affirmative action guidelines may have some flaws, they are necessary and should not be revoked.

"It's being proposed in a legislative forum. So, obviously, that would be a crucial or extremely important part of making these quotas work in the medium or long term. Again, our position: it's better for them to exist now, at this point in history, than not to exist at all, but we have to improve them so they're filled with people from these populations," Aguilar said.

Since the implementation of affirmative action, there have been comments questioning the "forced inclusion" of minority groups, questioning their education and preparation for representative positions, and racist, classist, and even sexist comments.

🔴 Electoral reform is needed to ensure affirmative action doesn't create problems for candidates: @MemoValenciaR . #Revolutionaries @XochitlRuizG pic.twitter.com/OokvCrEy0Q

— PRI Michoacán (@CDEPRIMICH) April 2, 2024

Glossary : ​​Aporophobia: Rejection of people without resources or without homes. Classism: A form of discrimination based on a person's social class. It refers to attitudes and behaviors that treat people differently depending on their social class.

This is an example of both aporophobia and classism, as it continues to devalue and fuel prejudices against the Indigenous and Afro-Mexican populations, believing they are unprepared for public office. 

According to Gisela Carlos Fregoso , the denial of the capacity to hold political office can be considered epistemic racism .

“When they argue that Indigenous and Afro-Colombian people aren't prepared to hold certain positions, that's pure and simple epistemic racism. Epistemic racism is believing that other people don't think, that they don't think, and therefore—as if they were stupid—don't have the capacity to make decisions, that they aren't prepared to decide on diplomatic matters, on drug trafficking matters, that they aren't prepared, that their knowledge isn't worth it,” the doctor said.

Affirmative action is an important step toward ensuring the political participation of historically discriminated groups, which must evolve with each electoral process.  

However, there is still a long way to go to eliminate racism and discrimination in the political sphere, as political parties continue to nominate candidates who do not belong to these groups.

This article is part of Verificado's Hate Speech and Disinformation Observatory . This project was carried out with support from the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) as part of the Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.