May affect borders, alcohol sales prohibited starting Friday
Update: On Thursday, June 28 the head of the Sonora Directorate of Alcohol, Zaira Fernández Morales, announced that the dry laws would be further amended to ban the sale of alcohol only on Sunday, July 1. Bars, clubs, convenience stores and other places that sell alcohol will be able to sell alcoholic beverages until midnight Saturday.
On Sunday, July 1, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect a new president, federal senators and legislators, and local officials. With far-left presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador (also known as “AMLO”) leading in the polls, there is speculation that the election and its aftermath could cause controversy south of the border.
López Obrador is a populist candidate who has promised reforms that will help Mexico’s working class, and if he is elected it will represent the first time a candidate that is not part of one of Mexico’s two ruling parties of PAN and PRI ascends to the presidency of Mexico.
And he plans to officially close his campaign in the Sonora capital of Hermosillo.
Mexicos “ley seca” (dry law), which prohibits the sale of alcohol on the day of federal elections and the day before, has been extended to two days before the election, and will begin this Friday, June 29.
As a result, many businesses will be closed or have limited hours of operation over the weekend. There may also be heavier than normal northbound traffic at the Arizona-Sonora ports of entry on Friday and Saturday.