File Photo: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
TIXTLA de GUERRERO:
Mexicans voted on Sunday in midterm elections expected to renew the congressional majority of President Enrique Pena Nieto's ruling party despite attempts by radical teachers to thwart the vote.
While the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) appears set to survive discontent against Pena Nieto, an independent candidate was favored to make a political shockwave in the northern industrial state of Nuevo Leon.
Exit polls showed Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, a foul-mouthed rancher dubbed "El Bronco," will become the first independent candidate to be elected governor since a 2014 electoral reform, riding a wave of discontent against corrupt politicians.
"This will be a citizens' government in Nuevo Leon. Nuevo Leon will be the beginning of a second Mexican revolution," Rodriguez told supporters after a TV Azteca poll gave him a six point lead over the PRI's candidate.
An early count of two percent of ballots showed the PRI leading with around 29 percent of the votes for Congress, while the Green Party allies would get eight percent. The conservative National Action Party stood second at around 20 percent.
Burned ballots
The elections to choose 500 federal legislators, hundreds of mayors and nine governors were marked by protests in southern states where radical teachers burned ballot boxes.
But National Electoral Institute president Lorenzo Cordova said that the overall election process was "positive" despite "incidents in certain areas."
The protests in the impoverished southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero occurred despite the deployment of federal police and troops to ensure people can cast their votes across the country.
A radical teachers union held daily protests this week to pressure Pena Nieto into withdrawing a landmark education reform aimed at improving the country's lackluster school system.
"There were those who tried to affect the elections. In the previous days, they sought to discourage the population with violent acts," Pena Nieto said in televised address. "But millions of Mexicans voted, convinced that democracy is the best path for Mexico."
In Oaxaca, a bastion of the union, authorities detained 88 people accused of destroying election material in several towns, the southern state's government said.
Thousands held a protest in Oaxaca's capital while a bus was set on fire on a federal highway.
43 missing students
Protesters angry at last year's alleged massacre of 43 students also burned ballot boxes in the Guerrero town of Tixtla, near the teacher training college of the missing young men.
Hundreds of people wielding sticks protected a polling station. Election opponents arrived and the two sides threw rocks at each other but no injuries were reported.
While a police helicopter hovered overhead, there were no federal forces on the ground.
"As long as they don't deliver our sons, there won't be elections," said the father of one of the 43 students, whose parents refuse to believe they are dead and have vowed to prevent the elections.
State election authorities initially halted the municipal election but later said the votes would be counted and a court would decide whether to scrap it.
Other violence is also a concern in regions like Guerrero plagued by organized crime.
At least 10 people were killed on Saturday in Guerrero when rival factions of a self-defense militia clashed in the village of Xolapa, though authorities suggested the fight was linked to an internal feud and not the elections.
At least four candidates were murdered in the run up to the election, including three in Guerrero and Michoacan.
While the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) appears set to survive discontent against Pena Nieto, an independent candidate was favored to make a political shockwave in the northern industrial state of Nuevo Leon.
Exit polls showed Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, a foul-mouthed rancher dubbed "El Bronco," will become the first independent candidate to be elected governor since a 2014 electoral reform, riding a wave of discontent against corrupt politicians.
"This will be a citizens' government in Nuevo Leon. Nuevo Leon will be the beginning of a second Mexican revolution," Rodriguez told supporters after a TV Azteca poll gave him a six point lead over the PRI's candidate.
An early count of two percent of ballots showed the PRI leading with around 29 percent of the votes for Congress, while the Green Party allies would get eight percent. The conservative National Action Party stood second at around 20 percent.
Burned ballots
The elections to choose 500 federal legislators, hundreds of mayors and nine governors were marked by protests in southern states where radical teachers burned ballot boxes.
But National Electoral Institute president Lorenzo Cordova said that the overall election process was "positive" despite "incidents in certain areas."
The protests in the impoverished southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero occurred despite the deployment of federal police and troops to ensure people can cast their votes across the country.
A radical teachers union held daily protests this week to pressure Pena Nieto into withdrawing a landmark education reform aimed at improving the country's lackluster school system.
"There were those who tried to affect the elections. In the previous days, they sought to discourage the population with violent acts," Pena Nieto said in televised address. "But millions of Mexicans voted, convinced that democracy is the best path for Mexico."
In Oaxaca, a bastion of the union, authorities detained 88 people accused of destroying election material in several towns, the southern state's government said.
Thousands held a protest in Oaxaca's capital while a bus was set on fire on a federal highway.
43 missing students
Protesters angry at last year's alleged massacre of 43 students also burned ballot boxes in the Guerrero town of Tixtla, near the teacher training college of the missing young men.
Hundreds of people wielding sticks protected a polling station. Election opponents arrived and the two sides threw rocks at each other but no injuries were reported.
While a police helicopter hovered overhead, there were no federal forces on the ground.
"As long as they don't deliver our sons, there won't be elections," said the father of one of the 43 students, whose parents refuse to believe they are dead and have vowed to prevent the elections.
State election authorities initially halted the municipal election but later said the votes would be counted and a court would decide whether to scrap it.
Other violence is also a concern in regions like Guerrero plagued by organized crime.
At least 10 people were killed on Saturday in Guerrero when rival factions of a self-defense militia clashed in the village of Xolapa, though authorities suggested the fight was linked to an internal feud and not the elections.
At least four candidates were murdered in the run up to the election, including three in Guerrero and Michoacan.
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