Zacatecas, Mexico.– The Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) returned the Mayor’s Office of Zacatecas to Miguel Ángel Varela Pinedo, candidate of the PRI, PAN and PRD, after revoking by unanimous vote the sentence of the Monterrey Regional Court that determined the nullity of the election of June 2.
Morena and the PVEM had asked to annul the election because Varela Pinedo had allegedly bought time on radio and television, something prohibited by law, and appeared in various interviews, and last Saturday the Monterrey Regional Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal ruled in their favor.
The PAN, however, raised a controversy and in today’s session the Superior Chamber of the TEPJF revoked the first sentence, based on the proposal of the president of that electoral body, Monica Soto, who considered that it was not proven that these interviews were paid, but rather, they were exercises of freedom of expression and journalists who sought him out to report. “The Regional Chamber improperly annulled the election of the Zacatecas city council because the content of the statements made in the interviews do not constitute a contradiction or undue acquisition of radio time, since their purpose was to inform citizens about important aspects and problems related to the aforementioned city council and its diagnoses, challenges and priorities to consider, as well as his work as a candidate; all of this in response to express questions from the media that interviewed him,” said Soto when presenting his project.
In the June 2 election, Varela Pinedo obtained 26,237 votes compared to 22,936 for Jorge Miranda Castro, former Finance Secretary of Morena Governor David Monreal, who was seeking reelection in the capital of Zacatecas.
Zacatecas is not only the capital of the state, it is also the municipality that earns the most from tourism, and is the second most important in terms of economy, which is why Morena sought to win it with the annulment.
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