Guadalupe Taddei INE contractor companies and multimillion-peso contracts, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Contracts totaling 1,803,080,000 pesos have been linked to a network of companies accused of alleged simulated competition and possible conflicts of interest. The scandal led to the resignation of Guadalupe Taddei Zavala as president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), and the companies’ operations reportedly extended to at least 17 states.
The companies under investigation by the Superior Audit Office of the Federation (ASF), the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) and the INE’s Internal Control Body (OIC) reportedly supplied electoral materials and documentation to various State Electoral Public Bodies (OPLE) across the country. For example, Formas Finas y Materiales reportedly holds at least 15 contracts with 11 state electoral institutes, worth more than 540 million pesos, according to audit files cross-checked against the National Transparency Platform (PNT), the ASF and the UIF.
Its clients reportedly include the electoral institutes of the State of Mexico, Aguascalientes, Tlaxcala, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Zacatecas, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango. Cajas Graf, described as an INE supplier of cardboard products, electoral package boxes and supplies for voting days, is reportedly associated with the business group of brothers José Alfredo and Raymundo Hernández Casillas.
The company reportedly has 22 contracts with 13 local institutes, for a combined value of 586,300,000 pesos. It reportedly operated in Sonora, Veracruz, Jalisco, Oaxaca and Hidalgo, among other states.
Corporativo Zeg, described as a supplier of electoral materials and supplies to the INE, reportedly obtained a 7,900,000-peso contract in 2024 with the OPLE of Nayarit for materials supply.
Litho Formas, a company dedicated to printing electoral documentation and polling-station materials, reportedly holds awards from the OPLE of Quintana Roo worth 34,800,000 pesos, as well as participation in a joint proposal worth 57,300,000 pesos. Other companies named in connection with the alleged misconduct within Taddei Zavala’s INE administration are Seriplast de México, Comercializadora Grupo Selati and TOL Producciones, which reportedly belong to the same supply group identified by authorities.
According to the investigations, these companies reportedly supplied plastic inputs, packaging and materials for local elections in OPLEs in states including Veracruz, Sonora, the State of Mexico, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo. Separately, the INE’s General Council declared vacant the appointments for electoral councilor positions at the OPLEs of Guerrero and Oaxaca, because none of the proposals put to a vote obtained the qualified majority of eight votes required by regulation.
In Guerrero, the profiles of Víctor De La Paz Adame and Brenda María Ayala Terrazas were voted on, while for Oaxaca the proposal of Flor Angélica Enríquez García was presented. These proposals had been withdrawn from the October 29 ordinary session to gather further evaluation material following observations from party representatives.
The selection process reportedly drew 216 applicants across both states, who passed the Ceneval examination, an essay assessed by El Colegio de México and curricular interviews.
Despite technical endorsement from the Linkage Commission, the General Council plenary rejected the definitive proposals. During the debate, councilors Rita Bell López and Carla Humphrey reportedly suggested reviewing the appointment procedure and including new candidates, along with explicit declarations on conflicts of interest.
Following the plenary result, the INE reportedly plans to issue a new call to fill these three vacant OPLE positions.
