MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday said his government's judicial reform package has been ratified by enough state legislatures to validate its application.

At his regular daily press conference, he said the next step will be the publication of the reform in the Government Gazette, probably on Sunday.

"A constitutional reform requires the approval of the Chamber of Deputies, the Chamber of Senators with a qualified majority, plus half of the states plus one ... that is, 17 are required and that's the way the process is legalized," said the president.

According to Lopez Obrador, the package has already been approved by 18 state legislatures after the country's Senate passed the bill early Wednesday morning with 86 votes in favor and 41 against.

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Among other changes, the reforms propose the popular election of judges and magistrates, including those serving on the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.