News Analysis: Elections in 14 states to gauge Mexico's political climate

More than 26 million Mexicans will vote in 14 states on Sunday for nearly 1,400 public officials, in what is considered a test for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and his ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), according to political analysts.

Ahead of presidential elections in 2018, these elections, mainly for governors and mayors, will serve to mark the country's mood about the PRI and the opposition alliance between National Action Party (PAN) and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

"The status of the political parties is in play in every position, they may slide or lose ground to rivals or new alliances," said Rodian Rangel Rivera, a faculty member of political and social science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in an interview with Xinhua.

Of 32 Mexican states, the PRI currently governs 19, with nine of these holding elections on June 5.

According to Rangel Rivera, a number of PRI fiefdoms are unlikely to change hands, such as Hidalgo and Quintana Roo.

In other states, the analyst predicts far tighter races. In Aguascalientes, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, which is ruled by a coalition of four parties, the PRI is facing stiff competition, although polls give it a slight lead.

The PAN-PRD alliance looks likely to win in Oaxaca, Durango, Zacatecas and Veracruz, predicted Rivera while stressing that the opposition alliance could prove very effective.

However, all indicators seem to show that independent candidates will not play a major role in this election due to a lack of impact in the race.

Faced with a potential backlash to his party, the PRI president, Manlio Fabio Beltrones, said this week that "there were no easy elections in Mexico" but that his party would fight for every position.

However, the president of PAN, Ricardo Anaya, on Monday called on citizens to cast votes for the candidates with the best chance of defeating the PRI.

"We cannot allow for a splintered opposition vote to allow corrupt and incompetent governments to remain in place," said Anaya.

As the electoral campaign has been marred by accusations between parties and candidates of vote-buying and electoral fraud, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Friday that he was confident voters in the 14 states would go to the polls in a peaceful and democratic atmosphere on Sunday.

According to the National Electoral Institute (INE), all is ready for an efficient day at the polls on June 5.

"The election is following the normal path it has to follow. Polls also lead the INE to expect a high voter turn-out than in 2015," said INE President Lorenzo Cordova at a press conference on May 29. Endi