Mexicans to elect new president, PRI candidate favourite
As Mexicans go to the polls today, Calderón finds his legacy battered, his PAN ruling party unpopular and its standard bearer trailing in third place far behind PRI frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto.
The PRI's fresh-faced candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, 45, is leading most polls by a big margin and says he will win cleanly.
However, his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has warned voters the PRI is returning to its old ways and handing out cash in exchange for votes.
The country will also elect governors from six states as well as the entire 500-member lower house and 128-seat Senate.
Lopez Obrador lost the 2006 election to President Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) by barely half a percentage point, or over 200,000 votes. He then alleged massive fraud and refused to accept the result.
His protests, which shut down the main boulevard through Mexico City for weeks, remain fresh in the minds of many Mexicans and the candidate has said it could happen again.
COMMENTS >
Related Information
Mexico's presidential candidates on the issues
