Mexico poised to elect its first woman president

SAN FRANCISCO - A historic election will take place in Mexico on Sunday as nearly 100 million Mexicans at home and abroad choose a new president.

Voters will pick between Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, who will revolutionize Mexican presidential elections.

Reliable polling shows that Mexico is likely to elect a woman for the first time in its history, says Rafael Fernández de Castro, a professor at UC San Diego's School of Mexican-U.S. Studies.

"We will be the first North American country, not the U.S., not Canada who has a woman in the presidency," Fernández de Castro said.

The vote is run by the National Electoral Institute.

Alejandro Araiza, a staff member, said, "This election is the largest in the history of Mexico, both in number of offices and the number of voters. Nationally and internationally, 98 million will vote."

Many of the votes will be cast in the U.S. Some voters will go to Mexico's 20 U.S. consulates, including three in Northern California: San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento.

"For in-person voting, there are two possibilities. One, for those who have already registered; they can vote by computer at home. And two, those who did not register can come to the consulate, where each consulate will have 1,500 ballots," said Araiza. "But, in a very close election, we do make a difference," said Professor Fernandez de Soto.

"For in-person voting, there are two possibilities: those who have already registered can vote by computer at home, and those who did not register can come to the consulate, where each consulate will have 1,500 ballots," Araiza said. "In a very close election, we do make a difference."

One man of Mexican heritage said he thinks the election of a woman will be a great thing but is not sure how successful she will be in a male-dominated country.

Making the presidency even more important is the upcoming 2026 Mexico-Canada-America trade agreement, which will be critical to all three economies.