Learn about the opening of polling stations nationwide

The polling stations (polling centers) for the Mexican elections were open this Sunday throughout the territory after the opening at 8:00 local time (15:00 GMT) of the polls in the states with the Pacific time zone: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora.

Residents of cities like Tijuana, the largest city on Mexico’s border with the United States, go to one of the 170,000 polling stations that the National Electoral Institute (INE) will install with nearly 1.5 million citizen officials.

The polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) to 6:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT Monday) central Mexico time, although the hours in the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo are a hour ahead, while these Pacific entities are one hour behind.

Mexico has the largest election in its history, with more than 98 million people called to renew more than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, the 500 deputies, the 128 senators and nine state governments.

The main race will define who will succeed López Obrador, who cannot be re-elected, but hopes for the victory of the official candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, over the opponents Xóchitl Gálvez, from Fuerza y ​​Corazón por México, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, from Movimiento Citizen (MC).

The president voted around 8:30 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. GMT) in a booth inside the Art Museum of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) in the historic center of Mexico City.

Sheinbaum, Gálvez and Álvarez Máynez were in line to vote between 8:00 and 9:00 local time (2:00 and 3:00 p.m. GMT) in the Mexican capital.

The elections have been marked by violence, with 22 murdered candidates recognized by the Government, but independent groups record more, such as 34 reported by the consulting firm Integralia, which raises the figure to nearly 250 political homicides when including advisors, officials, family members and collateral victims.

The Armed Forces will deploy 27,245 elements for the election security operation, which will be added to the 233,543 that already carry out public security tasks.

The INE will publish the Preliminary Electoral Results Program (PREP) starting at 20:00 central time (02:00 GMT on Monday), while between 22:00 and 23:00 central time (04:00 and 05:00 GMT on Monday) the president of the organization, Guadalupe Taddei, will announce the quick count, which could define the winner.