 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | January 2006 
Deadline Nears in Mexican Election
 Judy Keen - USA TODAY
| | Luis Fernando Chang, left, registers Georgina Castaneda to vote in the upcoming Mexican presidential election in Chicago. (John Zich/USA TODAY) |
Chicago Gregoria Alavez de Cortez lives here, but she'll soon become part of Mexico's history as her native country for the first time allows expatriates to vote in a presidential election.
"It's really necessary for me to do this. I want to stay aware of what's going on in the election," she said as she picked up an absentee ballot application at the Mexican Consulate west of downtown.
Sunday is the last day to mail ballot requests for the July 2 voting for a successor to Mexico's President Vicente Fox, who can't run again because of term limits.
With the deadline looming, only a fraction of eligible Mexicans in the USA have participated because of confusion about the application, lack of interest in the campaign and concern that applying for ballots could result in problems with U.S. immigration officials.
Only about 15,000 of the estimated 4 million expatriates who have Mexican voting cards, nearly all of them in the USA, have mailed in applications, said Pilar Alvarez of Mexico's Federal Election Institute.
The Chicago region has 1.3 million Mexicans, the nation's second-largest Mexican community after Los Angeles.
De Cortez, 41, who works at a fast-food restaurant, heard about the deadline on TV. The application she picked up says in Spanish, "Mexico waits for your vote. Exert your rights!" She left with the form, but was soon back with questions. She needs to submit a copy of a utility bill as proof of her address, but she moved recently and didn't have a current bill.
Miguel Herrera, 37, a maintenance worker, took an application, glanced at it and put it back. "Too much trouble, too complicated," he said.
In the Chicago region, about 600 people have applied for the absentee ballots. Cesar Romero, spokesman for Chicago's Mexican Consulate, said a last-minute push could result in 1,000 more though he admitted that might be too optimistic. In all, 115,000 applications have been distributed here.
"We started late, but we've come far," he said. "The process is complicated, and we don't have a long tradition of political participation. We'll do much better next time."
Chicago's large immigrant population has had big turnouts for other foreign elections. Last month, more than 4,000 Iraqis from across the Midwest came to Skokie, Ill., to vote in their country's elections. In 2003, about 9,000 Poles in the area registered to vote in a referendum on Poland's entry to the European Union. Almost 4,000 Ukrainians here voted in their native country's 2004 presidential election.
Push to get more to vote
Last-minute efforts are underway to boost ballot applications:
Mexico's Federal Election Institute is running ads in Hispanic newspapers and on radio and TV in selected cities.
In Chicago neighborhoods, volunteers are distributing ballot request forms in banks, groceries and libraries.
In San Diego and Los Angeles, community organizations are helping people photocopy the required documents and fill out applications.
In Houston and other Texas cities, applications are at restaurants, music stores and money-wiring agencies.
Mexico passed a law in June allowing expatriates to vote in presidential elections to acknowledge the importance of Mexicans living abroad. They send billions of dollars home each year that boost Mexico's economy.
Those wanting to vote must have Mexican voter cards, Mexico-issued identification and proof of U.S. residency. Those without voter cards an estimated 6 million people outside Mexico must apply in Mexico, then return to pick them up. Last month, advocacy groups in California arranged bus trips to Tijuana for people to apply for the cards.
The application period began Oct. 1, but forms were originally available mostly at consulates, making it difficult for people outside big cities to get them. That has changed as the deadline has neared. Maria Curry, who has helped Mexicans in the San Diego area get involved, said the consulate there at first would give her only five applications at a time to distribute. For the past month, community groups have been recruited to help spread the word and can get as many forms as they need, Romero said.
Complicated forms are just one reason for lagging participation. Some people left their voting cards in Mexico so relatives could pay property taxes in their absence or conduct other business, said Salvador Pedroza Moreno, chamber of commerce president in Little Village, a Hispanic neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.
Some Mexicans who are here illegally threw away their cards to avoid having any identification, he said. And some can't spare $9 to send their applications by registered mail, as required.
Others aren't focused on the election because no campaigning is allowed in the USA. Campaigning in Mexico was banned during the holidays and won't resume until next week, Pedroza Moreno said. As a result, many Mexicans, even those who went home over Christmas, haven't been exposed to the views of the three candidates.
Curry said "all kinds of people are just afraid" that applying would cause legal problems over their immigration status.
Tony Payan, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso, said, "So many Mexicans in the USA live in the shadows, and they would rather not be seen as activists, as politically involved. They don't want to jeopardize their future in this country."
A part of the process
Alvarez, of Mexico's election institute, said the size of the turnout isn't as important as the chance to vote. "We do not qualify it a success or a failure, because the first time, you don't have anything to compare it to," she said.
She said many Mexicans in the USA will finally feel a part of their native country's political process, and "all candidates have to have proposals for migrants."
Despite the problems, Pedroza Moreno predicted that 20,000 Mexicans in the USA will vote. "This is historic," he said. "Twenty thousand voices that were never heard before will be heard." |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us