On Sunday, violence erupted at polling centers in Mexico, resulting in two fatalities during the nation’s historic election, which is anticipated to see leftist candidate Claudia Sheinbaum become Mexico’s first female president.
In Coyomeapan, a town in the state of Puebla, voting was suspended after a shooting incident led to a death, as reported by the state electoral authority.
The state attorney general confirmed another fatality at a polling center in Tlapanala, also in Puebla.
This election, Mexico’s largest-ever, has been marred by unprecedented violence, including the murders of 38 candidates.
This surge in violence, attributed to warring drug cartels, has raised concerns about the integrity of the democratic process.
Sheinbaum, currently leading in opinion polls against her main competitor Xochitl Galvez, will face the significant challenge of addressing organized crime violence if elected.
The outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s term has seen more fatalities than any other administration in modern Mexican history.
A victory for either Sheinbaum or Galvez would mark a significant milestone for Mexico, a nation with a deeply entrenched macho culture.
The elected president will commence a six-year term on October 1.
On Sunday morning, Sheinbaum described the day as “historic” and expressed her feelings of calm and contentment.
“Everyone must get out to vote,” Sheinbaum, a physicist and former mayor of Mexico City, urged on local TV.
Galvez, a senator representing an opposition coalition of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the right-wing PAN, and the leftist PRD party, engaged with supporters before casting her vote early Sunday.
“God is with me,” Galvez stated, acknowledging the challenges of the day.
Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum’s mentor, interacted with supporters and posed for photos as he walked from the presidential palace to vote with his wife.
Despite some reports of delayed openings, long lines of voters were seen outside polling places even before they opened at 8 am local time.
Edelmira Montiel, an 87-year-old Sheinbaum supporter in Tlaxcala, Mexico’s smallest state, shared her excitement: “It seems like a dream to me.
I never imagined that one day I would vote for a woman…
Before we couldn’t even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for.
Thank God that has changed and I get to live it.”
Nearly 100 million Mexicans were eligible to vote in this election.
Other positions being contested include Mexico City’s mayor, eight governorships, and both chambers of Congress, making it the most extensive election in Mexico’s history with around 20,000 elected positions on the ballot.
Polling stations were set to close at 6 pm local time, with the first official preliminary results expected late Sunday.
Both Sheinbaum and Galvez have committed to expanding welfare programs.
However, Mexico faces a substantial deficit this year, and the central bank forecasts sluggish GDP growth of just 1.5% next year.
The new president will also have to navigate complex negotiations with the United States concerning the large number of US-bound migrants crossing Mexico and security cooperation over drug trafficking, especially amid the ongoing US fentanyl crisis.
Mexican officials predict these negotiations may become more challenging if Donald Trump, the first US president to be convicted of a crime, wins the US presidency in November.
Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese cars manufactured in Mexico and has expressed intentions to deploy special forces to combat the cartels.
Sam Castillo, a 25-year-old dancer living between Oaxaca state and Mexico City, voiced his hope that Sheinbaum would be stronger on foreign relations than Lopez Obrador.
While waiting to vote in the Florida district of southern Mexico City, Castillo expressed confidence in the leftist Morena party’s governance, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community.
“What we have seen with gender legislation, with marriage equality, for me it has to do with party,” Castillo said.
