MEXICO PRESIDENT SET TO SECURE MAJORITY IN CONGRESSIONAL POLLS

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party and its allies appeared poised to maintain their majority in Mexico’s lower chamber of the congress, according to initial results, Christopher Sherman and Mark Stevenson reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Only 47% of ballots had been counted late Sunday, but electoral authorities released “quick count” results based on voting samples that allow estimates of the voting trends to determine the rough potential makeup of the Chamber of Deputies.

López Obrador’s Morena party will have to rely on votes from its allies in the Workers Party and Green Party, but together they were expected to capture between 265 and 292 seats in the 500-seat chamber.

Morena alone was expected to win 190 to 203 seats. That would signal a significant decline for the president’s party. In the current congress, Morena has a simple majority, holding 253 seats on its own. It would also deprive the president of a qualified majority of two-thirds required to approve constitutional reforms.

The opposition alliance made up of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, National Action Party and Party of the Democratic Revolution were estimated to win between 181 and 213 seats.

Those would be gains for those parties, which have often appeared rudderless in the face of López Obrador’s popularity.

Even without López Obrador on the ballot, the mid-term elections were seen by many as a referendum on his administration and his ability to continue what he calls the “Fourth Transformation” of Mexico.

Turnout was high for mid-term elections, edging above 51% of eligible voters.

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