NEW YORK.- On an unprecedented election day for Mexican migrants in the United States, thousands of them were left unable to exercise their right to vote, due to the limited number of ballots, according to Mexican electoral rules.
Mexicans living in New York went to the Consulate General of Mexico with the intention of voting, but there were only 1,500 ballots for unregistered people and 1,391 for those who registered.
The line to vote covered more than four full blocks, surrounding buildings, which forced an intense NYPD operation to control the spirits of Mexicans, who were pressuring Mexican authorities to vote.
This journalist arrived in the area around 3:00 pm and was able to document the line of people, couples, families, older adults, who tried to vote for one of the presidential candidates, Claudia Sheinbaum, Xóchitl Gálvez and the candidate Jorge Máynez.
Jaruk Arajona shared that she lined up at 12:00 pm to vote, she was one of the 1,391 people who registered their credentials to vote in person, her vote should have been secured, but it was not. It was 8:00 pm and the Mexican woman originally from Yucacán was more than two blocks from the Consulate General of Mexico. She stayed positive.
“I never thought it would be such a precarious organization, I thought it was going to be an electoral party, a civic party, which didn’t seem like it to me either, including some parts like us, as Mexicans, who have not maintained civility and that makes me very sad. “We obviously understand people’s annoyance,” he acknowledged. “What I would recommend to all Mexicans who want to vote is that we prevent this type of situation for the next election.”
Many other people arrived before 4:00 am to line up and secure their vote, but the Consulate General of Mexico in New York opened almost at 10:30 am
The National Electoral Institute (INE) established three forms of voting: through the internet, by regular mail and in person, but all required additional action by voters.
In the case of the internet, migrants had to request registration on the list and would receive a secure email with the instructions.
In the case of voting by regular mail, Mexicans also had to use their current voting card and request to vote with the ballots that were sent to them by regular mail.
For those who would go to consulates, voters had to register their voting card issued in the US, which guaranteed them a space at the consulate, but those who decided to go at the last minute ran the risk of not reaching any of the 1,500 additional ballots per consular office.
The images of Mexicans in their country’s consulates in the United States showed an influx of thousands of people from early in the morning, some even before 3:00 am, according to reports from Fuerza Migrante.
The lack of electoral ballots generated annoyance among those who decided to go to the consulate, but the voting station officials – all ordinary citizens – could not do more than use the material that was provided to them.
Gilda Ontiveros, an electoral observer as part of Fuerza Migrante, acknowledged that there was disorganization.
“There is a lot of annoyance on the part of the organization, because the lines of those who did register to vote and those who did not register were not separated,” he said.
Why only 1,500 ballots?
The reason there were only 1,500 electoral ballots for people who did not register in advance is because the INE considered the polling place “special”, a modality that exists in Mexico for those who cannot vote in their corresponding place, Juan explained. García, director of the Secretariat of the INE Finance Commission and was sent as a liaison from that organization to the Consulate.
“Trying to guarantee rights, a space of up to 1,500 ballots was established, where people who did not attend the registry could go to the consulate and exercise their right,” García said.
The official insisted that this type of voting is not the common denominator, since Mexican electoral law requires voters to register abroad, for security reasons.
“The law requires that voters must be registered when they are abroad, because it may happen that someone tries to register them, therefore they are removed from the nominal list and that would be even more chaotic,” he said. “And the other is that we looked for a way to guarantee that they could vote, a bit like what is done in Mexico in the special polling stations.”
Inside the consulate, the voting booth operated slowly, between checking the credentials and then explaining to voters how to exercise their right at the electronic ballot boxes.
The withdrawal of the NYPD
In front of the consulate, followers of the ruling party, Morena, shouted in favor of their candidate, Claudia, Claudia, Claudia!, while pressuring officials at the consulate to be able to vote.
“We want to vote!” they shouted, even expressing options on how to do it.
“We are going to organize a vote out here, with ballots that we are going to print,” a member of that group who did not identify himself told me. That is not legal, he was questioned. “It’s symbolic,” he added. In the end there was no such vote.
However, the number of people in front of the consulate increased to such an extent that reinforcements from the NYPD had to be called and more than 10 police officers and at least four patrol cars and vans arrived at the point to place fences and prevent people from occupying the consulate. viability. The Police patrolled the streets as far as the line of voters reached, to avoid affecting traffic.
Supporters of the Morena party, to which the leading candidate belongs, also attacked members of the press, shouting at them “chayoteros! Press sold!”
Fortunately, those spirits calmed down with the greater presence of the NYPD, although several of the voters did not like the operation, but they obeyed the orders and retreated to the sidewalks, from where they continued shouting and singing the National Anthem of Mexico.
The electoral result was disappointing: of the 1,500 ballots available, 1,310 were used; Of the 1,391 registered Mexicans – who did extra paperwork – only 384 managed to vote. In total there were 1,694 votes, nothing compared to the more than 363,138 Mexicans who reside in New York.