Mexicans will vote Sunday in historic elections that put gender, democracy and populism at the forefront as they chart the country’s path forward overshadowed by cartel violence.
With two women leading the charge, Mexico is likely to elect its first female president — a significant step in a country long characterized by its macho culture. The elections are also the largest in the country’s history. According to the National Electoral Institute, there are more than 20,000 congressional and local positions up for grabs.
Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, has had a comfortable double-digit lead in the opinion polls for months. Xóchitl Gálvez, an opposition senator and technology entrepreneur, represents a coalition of parties that have historically had little to unite them other than their recent opposition to outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Mexico heads into Sunday’s election deeply divided, with friends and relatives no longer discussing politics for fear of worsening an unbridgeable divide, while drug cartels have split the country into a patchwork of warring fiefdoms. The atmosphere is literally warming up with a wave of unusual heat, drought, pollution and political violence.
Currently:
– More populist policies or tougher fight against cartels? Mexicans are weighing their choices as they choose a new leader.
– Mexican drug cartels and gangs appear to be playing a bigger role in Sunday’s elections than before.
— Mexicans choose between continuity and change in elections, overshadowed by violence.
– Violence clouds the last day of the election campaign in Mexico.
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Here’s the latest news on Mexico’s elections:
STORES ARE OFFERING FREE GOODS FOR SUNDAY VOTERS
MEXICO CITY — Thousands of Mexican stores are advertising free goods for customers who come in Sunday and show ink on their fingers, a security measure to prevent anyone from voting twice.
The offers are intended to encourage voting.
Some outlets in the country’s largest supermarket chain, Oxxo, are offering voters a free cup of coffee. The National Restaurant Chamber said some members will also offer discounts on food and drinks.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CRITICIZES Electoral Authorities
MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s once-autonomous National Human Rights Commission has issued an unusual statement criticizing election authorities.
The commission, which has largely followed and supported the policies of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claimed Saturday that election authorities have not taken strong enough action against “defamation,” a term López Obrador often uses in response to criticism.
Mexico’s elections are run by the independent National Electoral Institute, and the commission would have no role in the process.
