Mexico's controversial judicial elections face possible delay

Mexico's first round of elections of judges by popular vote, the product of a contentious constitutional overhaul passed in September, could be pushed back by around three months if the Senate accepts a request by the electoral authority to postpone them, the electoral body's head said on Thursday.

The country's first judicial elections have been scheduled for June 1 of next year, but the National Electoral Institute (INE) is asking for more funds to hold them and the government is still urging candidates to register to run ahead of the Sunday deadline.

INE head Guadalupe Taddei sad in an interview with local station Radio Formula on Thursday that the electoral authority was requesting a 90-day delay in the elections because legal appeals against the reform had eaten up that time.

The judicial reform, pushed through Congress in September by the ruling Morena party and its allies, has raised concern from investors and neighboring countries such as the U.S. and Canada. The government claims popular election will eliminate corruption in the judiciary.

If the Senate does not accept the INE's petition to delay the elections, the INE will need to "tighten its timeline," Taddei said.

The Senate is set to consider the request later on Thursday, the chamber's leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, said, though he cautioned that "the ideal" would be to hold the elections next June.

If that is not possible, another constitutional reform could be necessary, he said.

The government is hoping that around 5,400 people register to run in the elections ahead of the looming deadline, said presidential adviser Arturo Zaldivar, a former Supreme Court justice. As of Tuesday afternoon, 3,145 had signed up.

Of those who throw their hat into the ring, just 1,793 will be chosen by lottery to run for the nearly 900 posts coming open, according to Zaldivar.