MEXICO CITY, June 2 – Two fatalities marked a day of violence at polling centers during Mexico’s historic election on Sunday, which is expected to see Claudia Sheinbaum, the ruling party’s leftist candidate, become the country’s first woman president.
Voting was halted at a polling station in Comeyoapan, Puebla, after a fatal shooting, the state electoral authority reported. Another death occurred at a polling center in Tlapanalapan, also in Puebla, confirmed by the state attorney general. This election, the largest in Mexico’s history, has also been its most violent, with 38 candidates murdered, including a local candidate shot dead on Saturday night. The ongoing violence has heightened fears about the influence of drug cartels on the democratic process.
Sheinbaum, who has consistently led in opinion polls against her main rival, Xochitl Galvez, faces the daunting task of tackling organized crime if elected. Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s term saw more killings than any other administration in modern Mexican history. A victory for either candidate would signify a major milestone in a country known for its machismo culture, with the winner set to begin a six-year term on October 1.
Sheinbaum, a physicist and former mayor of Mexico City, described the day as “historic” and expressed her calm and contentment as she headed to vote on Sunday morning. “Everyone must get out to vote,” she urged on local television.
Galvez, a senator representing an opposition coalition of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the right-wing PAN, and the leftist PRD, interacted with supporters before casting her ballot early Sunday.
