Dead man voted mayor of Mexican town

Enrique Hernandez was killed during a drive-by shooting while campaigning

Electoral boxes at a polling station in the state of Michoacan in Mexico ( HECTOR GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)

A dead man has become the mayor of town in Mexico.

Enrique Hernandez was running for Mayor in Yurecuaro in Michoacan State. But last month, he was killed during a drive-by shooting while campaigning and delivering a speech to supporters in the town.

Hernandez’s name remained on the ballot paper after his death and he won the election, according to The Daily Beast.

Hernandez was the candidate for left-wing political group Morena, which ran in an election for the first time this year. According to TeleSur, he received 39 per cent of the vote during Sunday’s election.

Three local officials were charged in connection with his murder.

Hernandez had accused the government of bowing down to the Knights Templar drug cartel in the area. In 2014, Hernandez said in an interview, as translated by The Daily Beast: “We must be conscious of the fact that to rebel against lawlessness of the Knights Templar we must at once rebel against the state government that supports them.”

His post will be filled by Marco Antonio Gonzalez, who was Hernandez’s campaign deputy. After the murder, Gonzalez vowed to “go out and continue the campaign, making it clear that a vote for us is not a vote for a party slate but for the ideals of a man, Enrique Hernandez”.