The presidential candidate of the opposition front Force and Heart for Mexico, Xóchitl Gálvez, asked this Sunday (2), after voting in the Mexican capital, that people go out to vote “without fear”, even admitting that these are “the most violent elections of the history of our country.”
“I would tell them ‘go out without fear.’ We already know that in some parts of Chiapas [estado da fronteira sul]no voting centers will be set up, I’m very sorry,” Gálvez told the press after voting at the El Chamizal primary school in Mexico City, after waiting in line for almost two hours.
At this school, located in the Reforma Social neighborhood, citizens waited from the first hour of the morning to vote in the biggest elections in the history of Mexico and in which the country’s first female president should be elected.
Gálvez recalled that these elections are also the most violent, with at least 30 candidates murdered and more than 250 political homicides, while the Strength and Heart for Mexico coalition denounces that organized crime puts the vote at risk in almost 30% of the territory.
“Yes, they were the most violent elections in the history of our country”, he lamented, although he stressed that “it will be a great day of celebration” due to the “huge participation” of the population.
98 million people are expected to vote in this Sunday’s elections aimed at renewing more than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, 500 deputies, 128 senators and nine state governments.
“This strengthens our democracy, Mexicans make the decision and today a new future for Mexico begins,” said Gálvez.
Gálvez was the last presidential candidate to vote, following Jorge Álvarez Máynez, from the opposition Citizen Movement (MC), and the government candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, who also declared that Mexicans “should not be afraid to vote”.
The representative of the coalition formed by the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) arrived surrounded by her children and found around 50 supporters, but also some opponents to her candidacy.
“I am in great spiritual peace. Being a believer gives you this sense of peace that things will happen as they should,” she said, as her supporters asked her for photos and videos.
The opponent, who said she was “very optimistic”, was in second place in the polls until last Thursday (30) and her campaign focused on questioning the actions of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and positioning herself as alternative to Sheinbaum.
“Now it is the people who have to decide. I’ve already done my job, I left my soul in this campaign”, highlighted Gálvez.
Election day takes place calmly, says INE
Earlier this afternoon, the president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Guadalupe Taddei Zavala, announced on national television that the elections were taking place “without major incidents” in the country and that any setbacks that had occurred had already been addressed. Taddei reported that, as of noon, 149,059 polling stations had been set up across the country, representing 87.59% of the total, surpassing the numbers reported in the 2018 and 2021 processes at the same time.
Claudia Sheinbaum, who voted earlier, is the government candidate for president of Mexico and a favorite in voting intention polls. She is part of the ruling left-wing National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, to which López Obrador belongs.
Sheinbaum is the former head of government of Mexico City (2018-2023) and was a delegate in the city of San Andrés Totoltepec, in Tlalpan, from 2015 to 2018.
The electorate’s biggest concern in this election has been violence, because although the government has stated that the monthly incidence of homicides has fallen by more than 20% during López Obrador’s administration (2018-2024), the opposition denounces that his six-year mandate will end up as the most violent, with more than 180 thousand murders.
This Sunday’s elections are also the most violent in history, with 22 murdered candidates recognized by the government, although independent groups register more, such as the 31 reported by Data Cívica or the 34 cataloged by the consultancy Integralia, which brings the number to almost 250 political homicides when including advisors, employees and family members.
Despite this, Sheinbaum said Mexicans “shouldn’t be afraid, they should get out and vote.” Asked about the intensification of political violence, with dozens of candidates murdered, one of them hours before the start of elections in the state of Michoacán, Sheinbaum again responded to EFE that Mexicans “should not be afraid”.
In the morning, the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) reported the mobilization of 27,245 Armed Forces soldiers for the electoral security operation, which will be added to the 233,543 who already perform public security functions. (With EFE Agency)
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