By EFE
02 Jun 2024, 09:50 AM EDT
The Mexican presidential elections began this Sunday with the opening of the first polling stations (voting centers) in Quintana Roo, a Caribbean state, at 8:00 am local time, marking the start of the largest elections in history. from the country.
The first ballot boxes, of a total of 170,000 voting centers that will be installed nationwide with about 1.5 million officials, are already available in cities like Cancún, where people line up early, including tourists.
Mexico has the largest election in its history this Sunday, with more than 98 million people called to renew more than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, the 500 deputies, the 128 senators and nine state governments.
The main race will define who will succeed the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who cannot be re-elected, but hopes for the victory of the official candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, over the opponents Xóchitl Gálvez, from Fuerza y Corazón por México, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez , from the Citizen Movement (MC).
The elections are also already the most violent, with 22 murdered candidates recognized by the Government, although independent groups record more, such as 31 reported by Data Cívica and 34 by the consulting firm Integralia, which raises the figure to nearly 250 political homicides by including advisors, officials and family members.
The National Electoral Institute (INE) acknowledged on Saturday that it would not be able to install 222 polling stations due to security problems or social conflicts, which will affect an estimated more than 120,000 voters, particularly in the states of Chiapas, with 108 centers, and Michoacán. , with 84.
The Secretary of the Navy (Semar) has reported a deployment of 27,245 members of the Armed Forces for the election security operation, which will be added to the 233,543 that already carry out public security tasks.
The INE will publish the Preliminary Electoral Results Program (PREP) starting at 8:00 pm, central time, while between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm, the president of the organization, Guadalupe Taddei, will announce the quick count, which could define the winning candidate.