Violence marred biggest elections in Mexican history – telam

Mexican citizens went to the polls on Sunday, which was marred by the appearance of human remains in at least three polling centers.

The vast majority of schools closed at 6:00 p.m. in Mexico City (8:00 p.m. in Argentina), although polling stations were still open in states with other time zones and a one and two hour difference to the rest of the countries.

A human head was thrown this Sunday morning on a table in the Terrazas del Valle district of the northern city of Tijuana, local newspaper El Universal reported.

The man who threw him on foot and the rest of the victim’s body were found five blocks from where the head was laid, Baja California daily La Jornada reported.

As, a wooden box containing a head, two hands and two feet was left on a table in another polling center, also in Terrazas del Valle, according to the newspaper.

Also, a cooler with one head was left in a polling center in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood, on the outskirts of Puebla.

In contrast, the National Electoral Institute (INE) reported the cancellation of 41 polling centers, 20 of which were not directly opened., due to various episodes of violence.

In the central state of San Luis Potos, the local prosecutor said he had opened several investigations for electoral offenses, including the case of an armed group that broke into a college in the capital, where he fired several shots. and stole ballot boxes, without victims, according to the ANSA news agency.

Apart from these incidents, there was a “massive and copious” turnout, said INE President Lorenzo Crdova.

“From what we have seen, there have been no major incidents of violence, compared to what this campaign was, which was marked by violence,” the chief told Tlam. of the electoral observation mission of the Standing Conference of Parties. from Latin America and the Caribbean (Copppal), Dolores Gandulfo.

The elections were held in a climate of violence, after the assassination of 91 political leaders since last September, including 36 candidates or pre-candidates.

Public Security Secretary Rosa Icelanda Rodríguez said after the vote that there were sources of violence identified on polling day “in several municipalities, but fortunately the National Guard is already in these places”.

Gandulfo claimed that “in general they were able to open almost all the polling centers in normal times” and added that it was estimated that citizen participation “could reach 40% or 50%”.

Some 94.8 million citizens were able to vote and by noon 81.3% of polling stations were already set up, Crdova reported, according to AFP news agency.

The elections were a test for President Andrs Lpez Obrador as he served on average his six-year term.

“Long live democracy,” exclaimed the president after voting at the art museum of the Ministry of Finance, a few meters from the government building in central Mexico City.without further comment.

Lpez Obrador maintains over 60% popularity and, according to the latest polls, to maintain a comfortable parliamentary majority while losing a few seats, the prospect of a punitive vote weakening in the face of the decline of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pending the results, the wait remained as to whether the ruling party would retain a qualified two-thirds majority in the lower house.

A total of 21,383 positions have been elected today, including 15 of the 32 governors, 500 federal deputies, 1,923 mayors and members of 30 of the 32 regional legislatures.

The INE announced the first bulletin with the preliminary results for 8 p.m. (10 p.m. in Argentina) and the result of the rapid count for 11 p.m. (1 hour in Argentina).