Heed gender rules, Mexican poll official tells parties

Mexico City, March 26 (IANS/EFE) The head of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, said political parties that failed to abide by gender equality rules in selecting candidates for the July general elections would face legal consequences.

The National Action Party, or PAN, Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the Mexican Green Party informed election officials over the past few days that they would be unable to comply with the gender quotas established by the law, IFE chief Leonardo Valdes said.

Each party is "resorting to the arguments that they consider allow them to receive the exceptions permitted" under the Code of Electoral Procedures for presenting a minimum of 120 candidates of each gender for the Chamber of Deputies and 26 for the Senate, Valdes said.

"Failure to comply with the gender quota could lead to multiple legal consequences that could alter the participation of the cited political parties in the ongoing electoral process," the IFE chief said.

Mexico will hold general elections July 1, with some 80 million eligible voters casting ballots for a new president, 628 legislators and thousands of other officials.

--IANS/EFE

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