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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2005 
Immigrants Feel Detached From Mexico's '06 Elections
 Chris Hawley - arizonarepublic.com
| | It was trumpeted as a major victory for Mexican democracy, but so far, Mexican migrants don't seem that excited about it. |
Mexico City - It was trumpeted as a major victory for Mexican democracy, an act that could revolutionize the country's politics, when lawmakers decided this year to extend voting rights to Mexicans living abroad.
But so far, Mexican migrants don't seem that excited about it.
Only 1,494 expatriates have requested ballots for the July 2, 2006, presidential vote since elections officials began processing them on Oct. 1, Federal Elections Institute officials said Tuesday. That's a tiny percentage of the 10 million Mexicans living in the United States, 4 million of whom are believed to have their Mexican voter registration cards.
Migrants say they are being discouraged by the cumbersome mail-in process. They say that the Federal Elections Institute's rules against campaigning abroad have taken all the excitement out of the election."The process is too complicated, and people here just don't feel very connected to what's going on in Mexico," said Juan Salto, a 32-year-old undocumented migrant working as a security guard in Phoenix. Like most migrants, he hasn't bothered to request a ballot.
Activists had hoped that migrants, inspired by their experience of living in the United States, would be a major force in Mexico's efforts to strengthen democracy, clean up corruption and crack down on crime. They already play a big role in Mexico's stability by sending home billions of dollars a year.
But if the pace of applications doesn't pick up, Mexicans abroad will have little impact on who the country's next president is and less clout when it comes to influencing the new leader."It's definitely less participation than we had hoped for," said Florencio Zaragoza, Arizona representative for the Coalition for the Political Rights of Mexicans Abroad.
The group lobbied for the law, passed in June, that allowed overseas voting for the first time. It allows voters to cast ballots only in the presidential race, not in congressional or local elections.
The turnout is especially disappointing in light of a Pew Hispanic Center poll released in March in which 9 of 10 Mexican migrants said they would vote in Mexico's elections if they were able to, Zaragoza said.
The three main presidential candidates - Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party, and Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party - had been eager to claim votes in the United States. But at this rate, the trio will be fighting over crumbs, Madrazo told a group of foreign correspondents on Monday.
"The direct participation (of voters abroad) is going to be very sparse, very low," he said.
Campaign Rules
Lawmakers in Mexico's lower house originally had wanted to open voting booths in the United States and other countries. But Mexican senators balked at the idea, saying it would be a logistical nightmare. The compromise bill that was signed into law by President Vicente Fox called for mail-in ballots only.
In October, the elections institute ruled that the parties cannot spend money abroad, run ads, put up posters, canvass neighborhoods, hold rallies or send candidates abroad for any reason. They cannot accept donations from abroad, either.
The ruling closed a loophole that might have allowed presidential hopefuls to visit the United States before Jan. 15, when the parties must officially register their candidates.
"That's definitely part of the problem, because what motivates people to vote is seeing ads, meeting candidates, hearing what they have to say," Zaragoza said.
The elections institute, known as IFE, has vowed to fine the political parties for any violations, even if campaigners abroad are working independently. It says the outright ban is needed because there is no way it can monitor campaigns in other countries to make sure they comply with spending limits.
"There can be no exceptions," said Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of the institute. "It would cause interference that IFE cannot permit."
But in Mexico, political parties also play a big role in helping get out the vote. Last week, both the head of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad, Cándido Morales, and the Democratic Revolutionary Party said elections officials aren't doing enough to educate migrants about their new rights. In response, the institute has been ramping up its publicity campaign and striking agreements with popular musicians and athletes to help get out the vote.
In addition to a lack of information, there also is a lot of apathy among migrants, said Daniel Manzanares, a 34-year-old plumber from Chihuahua who works in Phoenix. Many migrants blame Mexican politicians for the lack of jobs that drove them north. They want nothing to do with politics.
"If you vote, there's no benefit for you here," said Manzanares, who does not plan to vote. "And if I choose a bad candidate, other people have to live with the effects of my vote, not me. I don't think that's fair."
Registering
Under the law, Mexicans who already have their voter registration cards have until Jan. 15 to request an absentee ballot by mail. About 42 percent of Mexicans in the United States brought their cards with them, according to the Pew Hispanic Center poll.
The ballot requests must be sent to Mexico City by registered mail, which costs about $8 in the United States.
The first ballot request was from Burgos, Spain, and arrived on Oct. 4, said Patricio Ballados, director of foreign voting for the elections institute.
About 70 percent of the ballot requests have come from the United States. The rest have mainly come from Europe, especially France and Spain, elections officials say.The elections institute will mail out the ballots in March, along with a pamphlet outlining the platforms of each of the presidential candidates. The ballots must be received in Mexico City by election day, July 2.
Mexicans who do not have their voter cards must go to Mexico to register before requesting a ballot. The elections institute plans to set up 15 temporary offices, including ones in Nogales and Agua Prieta, Sonora, to register migrants coming home for the holidays.
The elections institute has distributed more than 2 million ballot applications to consulates and civic groups. An additional 5,200 have been downloaded from the Internet. Musical group Los Tigres del Norte and singer Ramón Ayala have pledged to promote the vote during their concerts in the United States, and Mexican soccer player Javier Aguirre has taken up the cause in Spain.
A program about the vote on Univision drew 2,000 calls to the institute's toll-free information line, 1-86-MXVOTE06. About 15 percent of them came from Arizona, officials said.
In Tucson, the civic group Fundación México is holding workshops at the Quincie Douglas Neighborhood Center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. every Saturday to help voters fill out their applications.
Institute officials say they are optimistic that the pace of applications will pick up as the Jan. 15 deadline approaches.
"With any type of government paperwork in any part of the world, people wait until the last moment to send in their application," Ballados said.
Reach the reporter at chris.hawley@arizonarepublic.com. |
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