The Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM) has implemented a crucial measure to ensure the authenticity of the vote in the upcoming Election of the Community Participation Commissions (Copaco) 2026 and the Participatory Budget Consultation for 2026 and 2027. This measure involves the use of indelible ink to prevent duplication and reinforce the principle of “one person, one vote”. According to the body, it will have three thousand applicators of this supply, developed by the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), with the objective of guaranteeing that each participant expresses their opinion or casts their vote only once. The indelible ink will be applied to the thumb of voters, preferably the right one, once they have participated in the event. Each applicator has a capacity of 15 milliliters, enough to perform at least 750 applications, which will allow to widely cover these citizen participation exercises. The IECM reminded that the ink is purple, visible from the moment of its application and has a minimum permanence of 12 hours, and highlighted that this material has technical characteristics that seek to ensure its effectiveness: it dries in approximately 15 seconds, resists common solvents and does not cause skin irritation. Why is this measure important for Mexico City? The Copaco election and the participatory budget consultation are mechanisms through which the inhabitants of Mexico City can directly get involved in community decisions, from the integration of neighborhood bodies to the destination of resources for works and projects in their colonies. That is why ensuring that there are no repeated votes is a central part of trust in these processes. And as is customary in elections in Mexico, the indelible ink works as an immediate physical signal to prevent the same person from participating more than once during the event. The IECM reported that it supervised the production and delivery of the indelible ink, developed through a collaboration agreement with the IPN. The participation of the educational institution, responsible for the development and manufacturing of the material, seeks to back the quality and reliability of the supply that will be used in these citizen exercises. Another relevant point is that, once the participation exercises are concluded and the materials are recovered, the remainder will be delivered to a company specialized in chemical waste management. The purpose is its deactivation and final confinement, in accordance with institutional protocols and environmental criteria, to guarantee that it cannot be reused and that it has a responsible disposal.
