Mexico's controversial judicial reform requiring direct election of judges and magistrates emerged mostly unscathed on Tuesday from a Supreme Court vote on whether it violated the country's constitution.

All but three of the country’s Supreme Court justices announced they would quit rather than partake in the controversial elections mandated by a judicial overhaul.

Judges will be elected by voters next year after Mexico's Supreme Court rejected a proposal to invalidate key parts of the judicial reform.

Mexico's Supreme Court fell short in a vote on Tuesday to invalidate part of a controversial judicial reform passed by lawmakers in September that requires the election of all judges over the next few years.