Majority of Mexican state legislatures approve judicial overhaul, says president

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -A majority of Mexican state legislatures have approved a controversial judicial overhaul, the country's president said on Thursday, marking a final legislative step in its constitutional approval process.

The reform, which stipulates that thousands of judges be elected by popular vote, was approved by two-thirds of Senators on Wednesday following a contentious all-night debate, and will now go into effect when it is published in the government's official gazette.

The sweeping overhaul was approved by the lower house earlier this month, with lawmakers from the leftist Morena ruling party and its allies providing the margin of victory as the country's opposition came up short in its efforts to derail it.

Changes to Mexico's constitution require a two-thirds vote in Congress, followed by the approval of a majority of state legislatures in Mexico's 32 states.

At his regular morning press conference, outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that 18 local legislatures had already given their seal of approval.

"The reform to the judiciary has already been approved," said Lopez Obrador, referring to all the state legislatures that had put it to a vote up over the past couple days.

The president, who made the reform his top priority during his final month in office, added that it "would be good" if its publication in the government gazette took place on September 15, a day ahead of the country's independence day.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by Sarah Morland)