Mexico presidential election underway - The Washington Post Mexico's entire congress, six state governor posts and hundreds of local races also will be decided in Sunday's election, with the PRI party expected to do well at every level. Nearly 80 million Mexicans are registered to vote in this country of 114 million, and election officials expect a turnout of 60 percent by the time polls begin to close at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). Initial results will be announced by Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) starting at 11:45 p.m. CST, but exit poll data is expected to be available after 8 p.m. Scattered incidents of political violence and allegations of vote-buying in the past week have left Mexican electoral officials especially eager to assure voters that polling is safe, and that Sunday's outcome will not be tainted by political tricks nor the criminal influences of Mexico's wealthy narcotics traffickers. Soon after polls opened at 8 a.m. local time, IFE's top official took to the airwaves imploring Mexicans to trust in the integrity of the voting process and "bring their families" to the ballot boxes. "We are ready to receive your votes," said IFE president Leonardo Valdes in a nationally-televised address. Come experience democracy for yourself. Social media reports and television footage showed long lines at some polling stations, but there were no signs of violence or other irregularities Sunday morning. Mexico's military has been deployed to safeguard ballots at the country's 143,000 precincts and election officials said more than a million observers have been trained to monitor the balloting process, which is also open to observers from the political parties. Current Mexican president Felipe Calderon is ineligible for re-election, as the country's constitution limits executives to a single, six-year term. Though praised for his economic stewardship, Calderon's National Action (PAN) Party has been hurt by the rampant spread of criminal violence during his presidency. Nearly 60,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related violence since Calderon launched a military offensive against the country's drug lords soon after taking office in December 2006. Polls have shown PAN's nominee, Josefina Vazquez Mota, in third place behind Revolutionary Democratic Party candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former Mexico City mayor who narrowly lost to Calderon in 2006. Both have consistently trailed Peña Nieto, the former governor of Mexico's most populous state. His party held the Mexican presidency from 1929 until PAN candidate Vicente Fox's win in 2000.