Mexico City, 2 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Mexico is on the brink of a historic change as forecasts indicate the first woman will be elected to the post of president in Sunday's elections, the biggest in the nation's history.

Polling shows government candidate Claudia Sheinbaum from the ruling left-wing Morena party is the favourite, likely to win more votes than the opposition's candidate Xóchitl Gálvez. A third presidential candidate is seen as having no chance.

Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, is considered a longtime ally of incumbent left-wing populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is not allowed to run again after six years in office.

Gálvez, a businesswoman, computer engineer and former senator, is backed by the broad centrist opposition alliance Strength and Heart for Mexico, formed by the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Alongside the presidency, Mexicans can vote to fill all seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate plus regional and municipal posts, making it an election day of historic proportions.

In total, more than 20,000 offices are up for grabs in the most populous Spanish-speaking country, including governorships in eight of the 31 federal states and in the capital district.

Almost 100 million citizens are entitled to vote.

However the campaign period was overshadowed by violence, with at least 34 candidates killed since the application phase opened in September, according to data from consultancy Integralia. Officials say criminal groups warring for influence in some regions are behind many of these attacks.

Photo: EPA