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Mexico fact of the day
Number of Mexicans in the USA who voted in the recent (Mexican) Presidental election: 28,000.
I find this to be remarkably low. 58 percent of those voted for Calderon, although presumably the small number of voters corresponds to a strong selection effect rather than a representative sample.
Here is one account, although it does not look into the reasons for non-voting very deeply. Thanks to Sergio Hernandez for the pointer.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 17, 2006 at 02:40 AM in Political Science | Permalink
Comments
There were more votes from the US for the latest Italian election -- 55,000.
Posted by: Josh at Jul 17, 2006 10:21:16 AM
You can always count on the Times (LA or NY) to distort the issue...take this account instead, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/02/mexican_expatriate_voters_hindered_in_us/ The big problem is that if the immigrants had planned 6 months ahead they could have gotten a new card in the US in time for the election. Otherwise, they'd have to return to Mexico to apply for their new voting card. Which may suggest that these immigrants are disinterested in Mexico, or it could just show that they're normal people who don't plan for an election 6 months ahead of time. I know which I'd put my money on.
Posted by: Joel B. at Jul 17, 2006 10:24:51 AM
A few comments:
I. The correct figures are as follow (nr=not registered, nulos=not valid):
pan prd pri alt panal nr nulos total
19016 11090 1360 887 128 29 111 32621
58.29 33.99 4.16 2.71 .39 .08 .34
II. Is the number of votes from abroad low? Well, let us look what one needed to do in order to be able to vote from abroad in the 2006 Mexican election. If one was to register to vote from abroad, a Mexican needed:
i) To have registered to vote while still in Mexico, before moving to the US (so you are doomed if you left Mexico before you were 18, as you can't register to vote before you turn 18);
ii) To currently have in his/her posession his/her voter registration card. If you lost it, you'd have to go back to Mexico to get it replaced.
iii) To have proof that he/she lives in the U.S. (i.e. utilities/phone bill, driver's license, etc)
iv) To make photocopies of his/her voting registration card (which presumably he/she brought from Mexico, and still has with him/herself)
v) To download (or go to the appropriate Mexican consulate and get in hard copy) a form he/she needs to fill and mail (please see vi below), along with copies of iii) and iv) to Mexico.
vi) The Mexican in question needs to mail his/her documents VIA REGISTERED MAIL (over 10 USD). If he/she uses regular mail (or priority mail, or any other type of mail), her documentation will be (not so promptly) returned (I know this well; see below).
vii) For example, in my case, registering to vote from abroad cost me around 21 USD (10 bucks the first time, when I sent my documentation via priority mail; 11 bucks the second time, when I used registered mail).
Only after completing vii did I receive my absentee ballot, which I then mailed back with my vote (only for president, as one can't vote from abroad for any other offices).
Posted by: JB at Jul 17, 2006 11:47:16 AM
The powers that controlled the Congress in Mexico - the PRI - deliberately made it difficult for Mexicans living abroad to vote in the form of very cumbersome registration/voting rules. That having been said, I think relatively few Mexicans in the USA give a damn about a country they've walked away from and which they believe has forgotten them or discarded them. I was impressed, however, by the large vote for Calderon, and small vote for PRD.
Posted by: gomexico at Jul 17, 2006 12:02:57 PM
I think if one is to point anything in terms of the proportion of votes mustered by each party among Mexicans living abroad, the thing to note is the miniscule proportion of the votes that went for the PRI.
Posted by: JB at Jul 17, 2006 2:07:47 PM
Given the PRI's support among Mexicans in the USA, it was right to make it hard for them to vote.
However, "gomexico" is not quite right in saying that the PRI "controlled congress" at the time the law was passed. Had the PRD and PAN agreed on the provisions for voting from abroad, they could have passed it over the objections of the PRI (which lacked a majority in either house).
I don't recall the PAN being very enthusiastic about the whole idea. So it is ironic that they dominated the other parties in the votes that were cast. I suspect that's because the sort of migrant who is likely to favor the PRD was precisely the sort most likely to be severely inconvenienced by the law's provisions.
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Posted by: levan at Sep 11, 2006 3:32:09 AM
