Tens of thousands of Mexican citizens filled Mexico City’s main plaza Sunday in protest of election law changes that passed last week. The plaza is normally thought to hold nearly 100,000 people, but many protesters who couldn’t fit in the square spilled onto nearby streets.

“This is the march where hundreds of thousands of citizens from across the country, representing millions, are defending democracy and confirming our trust in the judiciary to vote against the overhaul, which intends to load the dice in favor of the president’s party and take away our right to vote freely,” Claudia Ruiz Massieu, a member of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, said Sunday.

Once enacted, the election reform would do the following:

• Cut salaries and funding for local election offices
• Cut training for citizens who operate and oversee polling stations
• Reduce sanctions for candidates who fail to report campaign spending

“I believe that democracy is at terrible risk and we want a free future for our children and for our country,” businessman protester Melisar Ochoa said. Liliana Ural, a teacher who also protested, added, “I am not saying that there is no corruption within this institution, but I believe that Mexicans have the right to choose who is going to represent us, and not a government that is already stipulated.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has denied the election law changes are a threat to Mexico’s democracy. He denounced criticism of the reforms as elitist, arguing the money cut should be spent on the poor.

U.S. officials are also weighing in on the changes.

“Today, in Mexico, we see a great debate on electoral reforms that are testing the independence of electoral and judicial institutions,” Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted Sunday. “The United States supports independent, well-resourced electoral institutions that strengthen democratic processes and the rule of law.”