Since the 1997 federal elections, elections in Mexico had been overseen by the (now dissolved) Federal Electoral Institute, known by its Spanish acronym IFE. Prior to 1997, elections were run by the federal government's Secretaría de Gobernación (interior ministry). The law governing elections was the Federal Code for Electoral Institutions and Procedures, the COFIPE. The COFIPE was amended after the election of 2006; references to articles in this section refer to the COFIPE as it stood during the election in 2006, unless explicitly noted otherwise.