Historic vote in Mexico: For the first time, a woman will be elected in the largest and most violent election in the country’s history

Mexico will have a new president tonight. The National Electoral Institute qualifies this election as the largest in the country's history. The National Institute of Statistics projects 98 million voters, and the installation of 170 thousand unique voting stations throughout the national territory, as well as the participation of 1,530,027 officials from Casilla Boards of Directors.

In the presidential elections, center-right candidate Xóchitl Gálvez faces off against the candidate from the incumbent party, Claudia Sheinbaum. As the electoral process approached, the two candidates boasted their results in several polls. For example, as explained Mexican media outlet El Universal, "The Fuerza y Corazón por México candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez boasted that, in a Citibanamex survey, she was projected in first place with 40.2% of votes, ahead of her Morena opponent, Claudia Sheinbaum, who appears in second place with 39.6%."

"I have good news to share with you: for those who think that the election is a mere procedure, today, Citibanamex at its Economic Perspectives and Market Vision Meeting, presented a survey of the presidential elections. Yours truly has 40.2[%], Claudia Sheinbaum 39.6[%], [Citizen's Movement candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez] 9.7[%]," the candidate said at a political event.

Meanwhile, Sheinbaum shared the results of the pollster De Las Heras. There, she appears in first place, with 64%, far ahead of Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez.

But the poll war has not been the only one. Mexico is experiencing the most violent electoral process in its modern history. This was stated by the organization Integralia Consultores, which counted, from September 2023 to April 2024, at least 300 incidents of political violence and 399 victims, an average of 1.8 fatalities daily.

"With just over 60 days until the election, the 2023-2024 electoral process is already the most violent in the modern history of Mexico. Aspirants or candidates account for 31.8% of the attacks, officials or former public officials account for 24.1% , and politicians or former politicians account for 22.1%. The rest of the victims are family members and other associates," the organization detailed in its latest report published in April.

In that sense, the organization explained that regionally, the violence was concentrated in the west and center of the country. Guerrero, Michoacán and Morelos are the states with the highest number of registered victims. According to an Electoral Laboratory count, at least 70 people were murdered in cases related to electoral violence. Of them, at least 33 were candidates.

Likewise, the organization explained that political parties have reported more than 50 cases of threats to candidates.

Electoral Laboratory had already warned about the increase in political violence in Mexico in recent years:

"Political violence and widespread violence in Mexico have seen serious increases in recent years. National organizations such as Data Cívica have also initiated monitoring processes to understand how the increase in violence has been having strong impacts on the democratic life of the country," said the non-governmental organization.