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| Mexicans can now vote using presidential candidates' nicknames | Mexicans can now vote using presidential candidates' nicknames |
| (17 days later) | |
| When Mexican voters go to the polls on 1 July to pick a new president, they will able to choose between candidates including Richie Rich, Alligatorfish, and the Untamed One thanks to a ruling by the country’s electoral institute. | When Mexican voters go to the polls on 1 July to pick a new president, they will able to choose between candidates including Richie Rich, Alligatorfish, and the Untamed One thanks to a ruling by the country’s electoral institute. |
| Voters will now be allowed to scribble a candidate’s nickname, initials or campaign slogan anywhere on the ballot – rather than mark an X over their names – and have it count as valid. | Voters will now be allowed to scribble a candidate’s nickname, initials or campaign slogan anywhere on the ballot – rather than mark an X over their names – and have it count as valid. |
| The National Electoral Institute (INE) – which organises the election and referees all partisan political activities in Mexico – changed the rules barely three weeks ahead of the vote that will also renew congress, elect nine governors and hundreds of mayors. | The National Electoral Institute (INE) – which organises the election and referees all partisan political activities in Mexico – changed the rules barely three weeks ahead of the vote that will also renew congress, elect nine governors and hundreds of mayors. |
| Nicknames abound in Mexican politics: the current front-runner Andrés Manuel López Obrador is often referred to by his initials: “Amlo”. But he is equally well-known as “El Peje” for pejelegarto, a fish from his native Tabasco state, whose name translates literally as Alligatorfish. | Nicknames abound in Mexican politics: the current front-runner Andrés Manuel López Obrador is often referred to by his initials: “Amlo”. But he is equally well-known as “El Peje” for pejelegarto, a fish from his native Tabasco state, whose name translates literally as Alligatorfish. |
| His closest rival – Ricardo Anaya Cortés of the rightwing National Action Party – is sometimes referred to as “RAC” in print, but on social media he is increasingly called Ricky Riquín Canallín – the Spanish equivalent of “Richie Rich”, which was coined by López Obrador in a recent candidates’ debate. | His closest rival – Ricardo Anaya Cortés of the rightwing National Action Party – is sometimes referred to as “RAC” in print, but on social media he is increasingly called Ricky Riquín Canallín – the Spanish equivalent of “Richie Rich”, which was coined by López Obrador in a recent candidates’ debate. |
| The lone independent candidate on the ballot, cowboy-turned-governor Jaime Rodríguez, is better known as “El Bronco” – or the Untamed One. | The lone independent candidate on the ballot, cowboy-turned-governor Jaime Rodríguez, is better known as “El Bronco” – or the Untamed One. |
| The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate José Antonio Meade, whose sedate speaking style and lacklustre campaign has failed to capture the public imagination, lacks a nickname, beyond the perfunctory “Pepe” or “Pepe Toño” – the diminutive form of his first names. | The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate José Antonio Meade, whose sedate speaking style and lacklustre campaign has failed to capture the public imagination, lacks a nickname, beyond the perfunctory “Pepe” or “Pepe Toño” – the diminutive form of his first names. |
| Dissenters on the INE board warned that allowing voters to use nicknames could cause confusion during the vote count. A blank box on the ballot already allows for write-in candidates. | Dissenters on the INE board warned that allowing voters to use nicknames could cause confusion during the vote count. A blank box on the ballot already allows for write-in candidates. |
| López Obrador has a history of tagging his critics with unflattering nicknames. As Mexico City mayor, he called anti-crime protesters pirruris (spoiled rich kids) and dismissed civil society organisations which disagreed with him as fifis (posh). | López Obrador has a history of tagging his critics with unflattering nicknames. As Mexico City mayor, he called anti-crime protesters pirruris (spoiled rich kids) and dismissed civil society organisations which disagreed with him as fifis (posh). |
| López Obrador labelled Anaya with the “Ricky Riquín Canallín” during the second presidential debate. The name stuck and remained the debate’s most memorable moment. | López Obrador labelled Anaya with the “Ricky Riquín Canallín” during the second presidential debate. The name stuck and remained the debate’s most memorable moment. |
| “It shows how good López Obrador is at branding people,” said Federico Estévez, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. “He’s almost as good as Trump.” | “It shows how good López Obrador is at branding people,” said Federico Estévez, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. “He’s almost as good as Trump.” |
| All polls show López Obrador ahead of his rivals by around 20 percentage points, amid a broad desire for change in a country beset by drug cartel violence and political corruption scandals. | All polls show López Obrador ahead of his rivals by around 20 percentage points, amid a broad desire for change in a country beset by drug cartel violence and political corruption scandals. |
| Mexico | Mexico |
| Americas | Americas |
| Andrés Manuel López Obrador | |
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