MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)— Mexicans voted for a new president Sunday in a contest dominated by women — a historic first that was overshadowed by election day violence in the crime-plagued Latin American nation.

Thousands of troops were deployed to protect voters, following a particularly bloody electoral process that has seen more than two dozen aspiring local politicians murdered.

Two people were reported dead on election day after attacks on polling stations to steal ballot papers.

Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and a scientist by training, had a 17 percentage point lead over her main opposition rival Xochitl Galvez in opinion polls ahead of the vote.

After casting her ballot, the presidential front-runner revealed that she had not voted for herself but for a 93-year-old veteran leftist, Ifigenia Martinez, in recognition of her struggle.

Galvez, a 61-year-old outspoken senator and businesswoman with Indigenous roots, said after voting that she expected a “huge participation” in the election.

The only man running, centrist Jorge Alvarez Maynez, was trailing far behind in polling.

It means that, barring a huge surprise, a woman is almost certain to break the highest political glass ceiling in Mexico, where around 10 women or girls are murdered every day.

“A female president will be a transformation for this country, and we hope that she does more for women,” said Clemencia Hernandez, a 55-year-old cleaner in Mexico City.

“Many women are subjugated by their partners. They’re not allowed to leave home to work,” she said.

Daniela Perez, 30, said that having a woman president would be “something historic,” even though neither of the two main candidates was “totally feminist” in her view.

Nearly 100 million people were registered to vote in the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people.

Sheinbaum owes much of her popularity to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is only allowed to serve one term.

In a nation where politics, crime and corruption are closely entangled, ultra-violent drug cartels have gone to extreme lengths to ensure that their preferred candidates win.

Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was murdered in a violent western state, authorities said, joining at least 25 other political hopefuls killed this election season, according to official figures.

In the central Mexican state of Puebla, two people died after unknown persons attacked polling stations to steal papers, a local government security source told AFP.

Voting was suspended in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas because of violence, local authorities said Saturday.