Mexico's INE unveils new Voter ID card with 25 security features

Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE) has officially launched a new design for its Voter ID card, the twelfth iteration of the identification document used by Mexicans to exercise their right to vote. This updated card boasts 25 security features, significantly enhancing its security and anti-counterfeiting measures.

Key among the new security elements are the cardholder's data, which will be visible under ultraviolet light, and a redesigned DOVID hologram incorporating three levels of security. Carla Humphrey, a councilor at the INE, highlighted that these advancements make the Voter ID card much harder to falsify and align with requirements from various national and international institutions for identity verification. "The Voter ID card has broad coverage, it is the one that has almost 100 percent coverage for people over 18 years old and is used by most people for various official procedures, for identification and, of course, also for voting," Humphrey stated.

Alejandro Sosa Durán, the Executive Director of the Federal Register of Voters at the INE, provided further details, noting the card's unit cost is 13.50 pesos under a contract awarded last December, with a validity period extending to 2031. The new design includes tactile elements, such as a notch or indentation on one side, and maintains features like rainbow effect printing and a ghost photograph. The enhanced DOVID hologram features a color shift at 90 degrees, a wave effect, a 3D effect simulating a ballot falling into a ballot box, diffractive color changes, and chromatic changes with a shield at its highest security level. Microtext and nanotext are also incorporated into the lower levels.

Beyond security, the new Voter ID card also emphasizes inclusivity. It now includes options for self-identification as indigenous or Afro-Mexican, and non-binary gender identity. The INE stated that the institute consolidates a more secure, accessible, and inclusive credential, preserving its dual role as an official identification document and a tool for exercising the right to vote.

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The Voter ID card has broad coverage, it is the one that has almost 100 percent coverage for people over 18 years old and is used by most people for various official procedures, for identification and, of course, also for voting.