When it comes to the border region, 2024 is sort of like the political equivalent of a solar eclipse — a relatively rare occurrence in which both the United States and Mexico are in presidential election years.
And even with the tremendous stakes of the U.S. election, there’s an argument to be made that the Mexican election, to be held on June 2, is actually a bigger deal.
“A very important election — the single most important election in Mexican history because there is going to be more than 20,000 different positions at stake,” said Rafael Fernandez de Castro, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at UC San Diego. “The presidency, the entire federal congress, nine governors and lots of local races.”
Playing a potentially pivotal role in all of this are the approximately 12 million Mexicans living in the U.S. who are eligible to vote in elections south of the border. But if they do, it would be a first — this group has historically been a nonfactor in Mexican elections.
Consider the 2018 election — out of those 12 million people, only 69,000 actually voted, according to Arturo Castillo Loza of Mexico’s independent National Election Institute (known as INE in Mexico).
“There is a tremendous gap between those who live abroad and those who are actually registered to vote,” Loza said.
The INE, which is in charge of elections nationwide, is trying to change that. The agency is engaged in a massive outreach effort involving Mexican consulates throughout the country.
Over the last two months, Castillo and a team of INE representatives have visited consulates in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and New York. They’ve held workshops and met with local community leaders.
The INE’s overarching goal has been to make it easier than ever to vote. Voters this year will be able to cast ballots by mail, online or in person at one of 23 Mexican consulates.
Perhaps working in the INE’s favor is that Mexico’s presidential election lines up with the U.S. election this year. Since Mexico elects presidents every 6 years, it will be more than a decade before that happens again.
“This is a good time to reset the U.S.-Mexico relationship,” Fernandez de Castro said. “This is the time to think ahead, to think of how we can better promote cooperation between the two countries.”
Current Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has the reputation of being an isolationist. For example, he has not attended any G20 summits during this time in office, Fernandez de Castro said.
Apart from making it easier to vote, INE officials hope to be aided by pocketbook issues, Castillo said. He points out that the vast majority of Mexicans in the U.S. still have family and friends in Mexico. And they sent some $60 billion in remittances back to Mexico last year. They should have a say in how that money is taxed, Castillo said.
“That’s a lot of money, which at least suggests that Mexicans living abroad still have interest in what is happening in Mexico,” he said.
Mexico’s voter registration deadline is Feb. 20. But Mexicans living north of the border must get a voter ID from either a consulate or embassy in order to be eligible. All they need is proof of nationality, like a birth certificate, a valid ID, and proof of residence like a phone or water bill.
However, getting the voter ID can take weeks, so officials are urging people to start the process now. Once they do that they’ll be able to vote online, in person or by mail on or before June 2.
