Mexico City, Jun 7 (IANS): Mexicans voted in the historic midterm electionsy, with tens of thousands of candidates vying to fill more than 20,000 public posts, according to authorities.

On, about 90 million eligible voters cast their ballots at more than 161,000 polling stations throughout the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

Electoral authorities inaugurated the elections on Sunday morning at the National Electoral Institute (INE), where the presiding counselor, Lorenzo Cordova, reported that everything was ready for the "historic elections" to be held in the country, saying that everything has been done to prevent "our democracy being another victim of the pandemic".

He called on the citizens to vote while observing preventive health measures and asked that if any irregularity or illegal act is witnessed, that it be reported to the Special Prosecutor's Office for Electoral Crimes (FEDE).

In these elections, 15 governors will be elected, 500 federal deputies, 1,063 local deputies as well as 1,923 mayoral posts, among other positions.

The mid-term elections are the largest in the country's history due to the number of positions to be filled.

It is expected that half a million Mexicans abroad will cast their votes as well.

To improve their chances in the lower house, Mexico's three largest opposition parties -- the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Democratic Revolution Party and National Action Party -- joined forces to back the same candidate for each seat, aiming to take votes away from the ruling progressive National Regeneration Movement (Morena)-led coalition that includes the Labor Party and Ecologist Green Party of Mexico.

To maintain its two-thirds qualified majority in Congress, Morena will need to garner 334 deputy seats, a number which Lopez said will be tough to win, despite the party's lead in various polls.