INE concludes municipal electoral delimitation of Chihuahua 2026

The General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) determined the conclusion of institutional activities linked to the territorial delimitation project of the Municipal Electoral Demarcations (DME) for the state of Chihuahua 2026, as provided for in agreements INE/CG1354/2025, INE/CG06/2026, and INE/CG162/2026. The determination, adopted by unanimous vote in an extraordinary session on July 23, 2026, was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on August 18, 2026, via Agreement INE/CG467/2026.

The decision responds to the reform of Chihuahua’s electoral legislation approved by the H. State Congress, which repealed the legal basis for the direct election model of council members (regidurías) by territorial demarcation. Decree No. LXVIII/RFLYC/0558/2026 VIII P.E., published on June 30, 2026, in the Official State Gazette, eliminated the Fourth Transitory Article of Decree LXVI/RFLEY/0732/2020 and the Second Article of Decree LXVII/RFLEY/0583/2023, provisions that justified the delimitation.

A technical project underway

The project, initiated in November 2025, sought to provide cartographic support for the election of council members by municipal demarcation planned for the 2026-2027 local electoral process. During its development, the INE executed various technical stages:

• Installation of the Evaluation Committee for Municipal Electoral Demarcations (COEDME) on January 9, 2026.
• Approval of the Technical Criteria and Operating Rules via Agreement INE/CG78/2026.
• Construction of the Electoral Geographic Framework with virtual splitting of sections, approved by Agreement INE/CG235/2026.
• Approval of methodological aspects (population data, computer system, and mathematical model) via Agreement INE/CG297/2026.
• Compilation of the DME system and generation of the first delimitation scenario on June 16, 2026.

Consultation with indigenous peoples

Within the framework of the Protocol for Prior, Free, and Informed Consultation approved by Agreement INE/CG162/2026, informative meetings were held between June 19 and 22, 2026, at four venues, with the participation of 282 representative indigenous authorities:

• Hidalgo del Parral: 116 authorities from 113 communities of the Ódami (Northern Tepehuan) and Rarámuri peoples.
• Cuauhtémoc: 92 authorities from the Rarámuri, Pima, and Warijo peoples.
• Chihuahua: 33 representatives from Mixteco, Rarámuri, Otomí, Mazahua, and Apache Chiricahua communities.
• Ciudad Juárez: 41 authorities from the Apache Chiricahua, Mixteco, Chinanteco, Mixe, Mazahua, Zapoteco, Otomí, Wixárika, and Rarámuri peoples.

Orderly closure of the file

With the disappearance of the normative budget that supported the project, the General Council instructed the General Executive Board, through the Executive Directorate of the Federal Register of Voters, to compile the final report and assemble the closing file. Likewise, it ordered the notification of the conclusion to the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples and the State Electoral Institute of Chihuahua, as well as to the authorities and individuals who participated in the indigenous consultation process.

The measure, signed by the Councilor President Guadalupe Taddei Zavala and the Secretary of the General Council Claudia Arlett Espino, does not revoke previous agreements nor does it rule on the validity of the reform, but rather recognizes its legal effects on the project. For the citizens of Chihuahua, the conclusion implies that the council seats (regidurías) of the 67 municipalities of the entity will continue to be elected under the traditional slate model, without individualized territorial demarcations, in the 2026-2027 electoral process.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, edition of Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Autonomous Bodies section, pp. 200-218 (official reference: Agreement INE/CG467/2026).