A ban on the sale of alcohol went into force at midnight as Mexico got ready to vote in presidential and congressional elections tomorrow. The traditional ban on alcohol sales will end at midnight local time tomorrow when the first results of the elections should be announced.
Almost 59 million people, half of them under 35, are eligible to vote out of a population of 97 million. A large turnout is expected in view of the closeness of the election for president, where the two main contenders, Francisco Labastida of the ruling PRI party and Vicente Fox of the conservative PAN party are almost tied in the latest opinion polls at 40 per cent.
A third candidate, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the leftwing PRD, trails at about 17 per cent but could cost Mr Fox vital votes he needs to deprive the PRI of the presidency for the first time since 1929.
"The fact that, one week from the elections, no one knows who will win shows how far Mexico's democracy has advanced," said Mexican political commentator Sergio Sarmiento.
The Catholic Church encouraged the faithful to pray yesterday for a successful election where the voters will not feel under pressure as they cast their ballots.
The hierarchy has told members of the church, who account for more than 90 per cent of the population, that abstention would be a sin. It declared also that any vote fraud such as characterised earlier elections was contrary to God's will.
The Government reacted by warning the bishops that the constitution bars them from interference in political affairs.
Mr Fox, who was educated by the Jesuits and is a staunch Catholic, has said he is ready to relax some remaining legal restrictions on the church if elected.
Having appealed unsuccessfully for a pre-electoral pact with Mr Cardenas to eject the PRI from power, he has said that he and his supporters are ready to challenge the result "if the vote is tainted by fraud".
"If there are irregularities, we'll surely defend the citizens' votes," he said in his final press interview. "First we'll use legal defences, and of course we'll also mobilise our people."
The independent Federal Electoral Institute, which will closely monitor the voting and election counts tomorrow around the country, has said it can guarantee there will be no serious fraud.
There will be 860 foreign observers, including former US president Jimmy Carter, monitoring the voting. There will be almost 37,000 Mexican officials on duty at polling stations.
In addition to the presidential election, the country will also vote to elect the two houses of Congress, the governors of two states and the mayor of Mexico City.
The PRI lost control of the 500-strong lower house for the first time in the 1997 election but kept a majority in the Senate, which has 128 members.