Mexico Election Day Marred by Violence, Kidnappings, and Tossing of Severed Head

Violence continued to take place amid Mexico's election day on Sunday. Different areas such as Tijuana witnessed the violence when an unknown man tossed a severed head on their voting station.

Self-defense forces have been deployed in Guerrero during their legislative elections following a bloody campaign in their region, where eight politicians have been killed.

With tensions due to elections continued to rise in the country, AFP reported that more than 90 politicians were killed in Mexico since the electoral process started in September. Consultancy firm Etellekt said that among the 90 killed, 36 were candidates or pre-candidates mostly for municipal positions.

Mexico Election Day: Violence Continues to Take Place

Different cities in Mexico witnessed acts of violence while having their midterm elections. In Tijuana alone, apart from the severed head that was tossed by a man in a voting station, Reuters reported that authorities also discovered plastic bags filled with human body parts.

According to Newsweek, the man responsible for tossing the head fled the scene. It was still unknown whether the man was already under the custody of the local authorities. It was also unclear how the gruesome act was related to Sunday's election.

A source from the Sinaloa's prosecutor's office told Reuters that armed men robbed voting materials from voting stations in the state.

In Mexico State, someone threw an inactive grenade into a voting station. A voter told Reuters that the grenade dispersed the crowd, but they returned later on.

"People said that they would vote, and they would not be intimidated," the anonymous voter said.

Kidnapping was also reported by Erik Ulises Ramirez, a left-wing opposition Citizen's Movement party candidate, who survived an assassination attempt in Cocula, Guerrero last month. Ramirez said two of his allies had been kidnapped, beaten, and then released on Sunday.

About 93.5 million people in Mexico are eligible to vote on candidates in different posts such as governorships, local leadership positions, and lower house members of the federal Congress.

Drug Cartels Bring Violence in Mexico Election Day

Although not all, security analysts said that most of the electoral violence occur at the municipal level, where gangs and drug cartels exert pressure to influence the outcome of the election day.

Because of this, self-defense forces in states like Guerrero have emerged to supervise the legislative elections in the region.

AFP reported that Guerrero is home to more than a dozen warring drug cartels. The state is also known to be Mexico's most violent state due to the gang turf wars over the trade in drugs.

Across Mexico, more than 300,000 people have been murdered since the country's government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.

The government continued to blame the political violence that is occurring to the drug cartels, as these groups try to influence the outcome of the polls.

Mexico's President Lopez Obrador reassured voters about the security of the election. However, tensions still run high.

WATCH: Mexico Prepares for High Stakes Midterm Election - From CGTN America