By unanimous vote, the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) returned the victory to Miguel Angel Varela Pinedo – of the PAN, PRI, PRD coalition – to the municipal presidency of Zacatecas, after the Regional Chamber of the TEPJF based in Monterrey had declared the elections null and void due to alleged prohibited purchase of radio spaces.
At the suggestion of the presiding judge, Mónica Soto, it was said that the Regional Chamber made an “erroneous interpretation” by assuming that radio time had been acquired outside of that permitted by the National Electoral Institute, when in reality these were statements made in 16 journalistic interviews.
“I believe that the Regional Chamber did not properly analyze the content of the interviews in light of freedom of expression, the right to information and the presumption of legality enjoyed by journalistic activity. The Regional Chamber improperly left the nullity of the election of the Zacatecas City Council in place because, based on an inaccurate interpretation and application of article 41, it took the acquisition of radio time as a basis for updating the nullity,” said the speaker.
He added that citizens’ right to information and plural debate during election campaigns had been ignored.
“Far from being able to classify the interviews as a kind of covert electoral propaganda, as was considered in the previous instances, I believe that they are part of an authentic journalistic exercise because their presumption of legality was not overturned, as no repetition, systematicity or any other element that would make them lose said authenticity was proven,” he stated.
Therefore, the Superior Chamber of the TEPJF revoked the sentence of the Monterrey Regional Chamber, declared the validity of the election, as well as the assignment of council seats by the principle of proportional representation.
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– 2024-09-15 09:18:58
