| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Congreso de la Unión / Congress of the Union |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Cámara de Senadores / Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
2 July 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Mexicans went to the polls on 2 July 2006 to elect all members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate as well as a new President.
In the July 2000 elections, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost the presidency for the first time since 1929, and also suffered losses in both chambers of parliament. Mr. Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) became President. However, in the 2003 elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the PAN's representation dropped from 202 to 158 seats, while the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) increased its seats from 51 to 100. The PRI won 222 seats, one more than in 2000.
The main issues in the 2006 elections were the high crime rate, poverty and undocumented Mexican workers in the United States. The PAN endorsed Mr. Felipe Calderon as its presidential candidate and presented tough policies on crime, including life sentences for kidnappers. The PRD, led by the former Mayor of Mexico City, Mr. Manuel Lopez Obrador, formed an alliance, called the "Alliance for the Good of All", with the Labour Party and the Convergence Party (CONV). The alliance fought the elections under the slogan "For the Good of All, the poor first", pledging to improve healthcare and education. The Alliance for Mexico coalition was composed of the PRI and the Green Party of Mexico (PVEM). The PRI, led by former senator Mr. Roberto Madrazo, pledged to create nine million jobs inside Mexico to prevent Mexican workers migrating to the United States. Other main parties in the 2006 elections were the New Alliance Party (NA), formed by former PRI member Mr. Roberto Campa, and the Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party (ALT), led by the prominent civil and women rights activist, Ms. Patricia Mercado.
Approximately 42 million of the 71 million registered to voters turned out at the polls. The European Union (EU) announced that its observers did not witness any irregularities.
The final results for parliamentary elections gave a resounding victory to the ruling PAN in both chambers, winning 206 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, up from 158; and 52 seats in the Senate. The Alliance for the Good of All won respectively 158 and 36 seats. The Alliance for Mexico took 123 and 39 seats. The remaining seats went to the NA and the ALT.
In the presidential election, a narrow margin separated the leading candidates. After a partial recount, Mr. Calderon was declared elected on 6 July with 35.88 per cent of the valid votes, just 0.6 percentage points ahead of Mr. Lopez Obrador. On 8 July, 100,000 people responded to Mr. Obrador's call to protest the election results. He filed a legal challenge to the results on 10 July, alleging widespread fraud and calling for a manual recount of every ballot.
The newly-elected Congress held its first session on 29 August. Mr. Jorge Zermeño Infante of the PAN was elected as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, and Mr. Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera of the PRI as President of the Senate.
On 6 September, the Federal Electoral Tribunal confirmed the victory of Mr. Calderon. He was sworn in as President of Mexico on 1 December 2006. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 2 July 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
71'351'585
58.9%
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Majority |
Minority |
PR |
|
| National Action Party (PAN) |
52
|
32 |
9 |
11 |
|
| Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) |
33
|
8 |
19 |
6 |
|
| Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) |
26
|
16 |
4 |
6 |
|
| Convergence Party (CONV) |
6
|
4 |
0 |
2 |
|
| Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) |
6
|
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
| Labour Party (PT) |
4
|
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
| New Alliance Party (NA) |
1
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
106
22
17.19%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- http://www.ife.org.mx/
- Inter-Parliamentary Group of Mexico (03.11.2006, 01.01.2008)
In June 2005, the Congress passed legislation allowing Mexican nationals living abroad to vote by mail only for presidential elections. In the 2006 elections, of the 4 million eligible voters living abroad, only about 41,000, or 1 per cent, requested postal ballots. A total of 32,632 valid ballots were mailed to the Federal Electoral Institute before the 1 July 2006 deadline.
Note on the "Distribution of Seats" for the Senate
- "Majority" refers to the 64 seats allocated to the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in each state;
- "Minority" refers to the 32 seats allocated to candidates of the party which obtained the second highest number of votes in each state;
- "PR" refers to the 32 seats filled by the proportional representation system. |
|
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page