Mexico's governing coalition is expected to lose ground in Congress after a violence-marred mid-term vote.

Early results suggest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's Morena party and its allies will keep a majority in the lower house, but fall short of the two-thirds needed to approve major changes.

Many voters say the president failed to boost the economy and curb crime.

A severed head was lobbed into a polling station and five workers were killed on the eve of the vote.

The election was seen as a referendum on the government of 67-year-old Mr López Obrador, who is almost half-way through a six-year term.

(BBC)