Mexico held its first-ever judicial elections on Sunday, stirring controversy and sowing confusion among voters still struggling to understand a process set to transform the country's court system.

The election appeared to get off to a slow start.

Some voting centers in Mexico City, the Gulf coast state of Veracruz and the southern state of Chiapas opened with no one or only a handful of people waiting to vote.

Experts had warned that turnout in the historic elections could be extremely low, due to the mindboggling array of unfamiliar choices and the fact that voting for judges is entirely new.

Mexico's ruling party, Morena, overhauled the court system late last year, fueling protests and criticism that the reform is an attempt by those in power to seize on their political popularity to gain control of the branch of government until now out of their reach.

Now, instead of judges being appointed on a system of merit and experience, Mexican voters will choose between some 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and party allies have said the elections are a way to purge the court system of corruption in a country that has long faced high levels of impunity.

Critics say the vote could damage democracy and open the judicial system up further to organized crime and other corrupt actors hoping to get a grip on power.

That process has only grown more chaotic in the run-up to the vote.

AP video by Amaranta Marentes