Large rallies have been held in several Mexican cities against what protesters say are government efforts to undermine election officials.
The largest was in Mexico City, where organizers say 500,000 people marched on the city’s main plaza. The local government put the number at 90,000.
Lawmakers last week voted to slash the National Electoral Institute’s (INE) budget and reduce its staff.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused the INE of being biased.
But opponents call the recent vote an attack on democracy itself and are pressing the Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional.
A massive crowd gathered in Mexico City’s historic Zocalo Square on Sunday. Protesters spilled into adjacent streets in the city center.
“We are fighting to defend our democracy,” protester Veronica Echevarria was quoted by JEE News as saying. He wore a hat with the words “Hands of the INE” on it. Many protesters carried cards with similar slogans.
Small peaceful demonstrations were held in several other cities.
Mexico’s Senate approved the reforms on Wednesday, following a similar vote in the lower house of parliament. The reforms will take effect after being signed by President López Obrador.
It is perhaps the most controversial political issue in Mexico at the moment.
Mr López Obrador, who was elected in July 2018 after two previous failed attempts, has long been critical of the INE, whose staff monitors the elections.
Last month, he accused the independent body of fraud, saying its staff turned a blind eye to “stuffing of ballot boxes, falsification of [electoral] records and vote-buying”.
In his first attempt at the presidency, in 2006, he lost to his conservative rival Felipe Calderón by less than one percentage point. For months, Mr López Obrador refused to acknowledge the result, which he denounced as a fraud.
He also challenged the results of the 2012 election, when he lost to Enrique Pena Nieto.
Since his victory in 2018, Mr López Obrador has been pushing for reforms to the INE, which he says will save taxpayers $150m (£125m) a year by drastically reducing the agency’s staff.
