Undocumented status keeps many from voting in Mexican election
- By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, July 2, 2006
(07-02) 22:44 PDT Los Angeles (AP) --
Thousands of Mexican expatriates who didn't get absentee ballots for their homeland's presidential election caravanned to border towns Sunday to cast their votes in a race many believe will impact their lives in the United States.
The Mexican government set up 86 polls along the 2,000-mile border, mostly for migrants who missed out on its historic absentee ballot campaign. Leaving in the wee hours Sunday morning, dozens boarded buses in Los Angeles and other Southern California cities to head to Tijuana.
Voting was not all smooth at the special polling stations, which apparently received just 750 ballots each to prevent voter fraud. That left hundreds of voters in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, unable to vote.
For those in the U.S. illegally, they didn't dare cross the border to vote in person. Fear over the last year kept many from traveling to Mexico to apply for a voter card, necessary to request an absentee ballot or vote in Mexico on Election Day.
"I really wanted to vote, but I don't have papers so I couldn't go to Mexico" to get a voter card, said Adriana Lopez, 27, a housewife and illegal immigrant in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.
Electoral officials said late Sunday the race was too close to call and they would have to wait for the district-by-district vote count that starts Wednesday to declare a winner.
Because of voting card difficulties and other obstacles, the potentially powerful expatriate voting bloc will likely have little affect on the tight presidential race between leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and conservative Felipe Calderon. Of the estimated 4.2 million eligible Mexican voters living abroad, just under 41,000 — or 1 percent — requested absentee ballots. Of the 32,632 valid absentee ballots mailed to the Federal Electoral Institute, 28,335 were from the United States.
Maria Salome Rodriguez, a 38-year-old farm worker, drove eight hours with her husband from Fresno to cast a vote at a polling booth outside Tijuana's airport. They made the trip after their applications for absentee ballots were rejected because they wrote down the wrong address.
"We want to vote so Mexico can improve and offer jobs to people here, because even though we're far away, our heart is still with our homeland," Rodriguez said.
Mexicans said the new president would have a vital role in helping millions of undocumented immigrants get legal residency. Outgoing President Vicente Fox made immigration a priority in recent months, traveling to the United States to encourage Congress to pass legislation giving illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.
"It's important for the new president to fight for rights for Mexicans in this country," said Araceli Rodriguez, of Florida City, Fla., who voted with an absentee ballot. "We're always fighting hard to make it, but we've been living under more pressure, more strain."
While some expatriates were disappointed that so few had opted to take advantage of the first-ever opportunity to vote absentee, others expressed hope that more would participate next time.
"The main thing is, the door has been opened" for expatriates to vote, said Jesus Hernandez, 47, one of only 13,500 Mexicans in California who sent in ballots. "Later, we can reconstruct the procedures to make it easier in the future."
When Mexico's Congress passed a law last year extending suffrage to expatriates, Mexicans here hailed it as overdue recognition of the billions of dollars they send home every year.
Initial celebrations turned into frustration when it was learned that people who wanted to vote needed a current electoral card, and that the cutoff date to apply for an absentee ballot was nearly six months before the election. Mexican electoral laws also do not allow campaigning in the United States, making it hard for expatriates to connect with candidates.
Apathy also was an issue. Some said they came to the United States because Mexican governments had failed to create economic opportunities at home, and that they didn't see that changing anytime soon.
Some pointed to the low number of voters compared to the estimated $11 million the Mexican government spent on the expatriate program as yet another example of corruption at home.
"No matter who they elect, the corruption will continue," said Amelia Juantes, a 23-year-old housewife from Los Angeles who didn't even attempt to get an absentee ballot.
Juan Hernandez, who sent an absentee ballot from Phoenix, attributed the low turnout to an inadequate media campaign that failed to reach millions of Mexicans who could have voted.
"People who migrate here still care about their country," Hernandez said.
Patricio Ballados, expatriate vote coordinator for Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, said the agency would consider recommending to Congress that Mexican nationals be allowed to renew their voting cards at consulates.
"If they really wanted us to vote, they would let us do it at a consulate," said Gustino Fermin, 47, who said he didn't have time to return to Mexico for a voting card. "Next time I will have my card."
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Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez in Tijuana, Adrian Sainz in Miami, Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

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©2006 Associated Press