Mexicans who are in the United States stood in long lines for hours with the aim of exercising their right to decide the future of their country from a distance. While they waited, many joined together to perform one of the songs that represents all Mexicans, “Cielito Lindo.” Although the majority maintains that the National Electoral Institute (INE) was not up to the task, since a large number of people could not cast their vote.
Throughout Sunday, June 2, 2024, in all the consulates open to vote in the United States, the same scene was repeated: enormous lines that went around the block of citizens who wanted to cast their vote.
People who did not register to vote had to arrive earlier to see if they could get one of the 1,500 ballots that were available for them at each consulate. Even though the tables had already closed, there were hundreds of people who were not able to vote, despite spending more than eight or nine hours waiting.
Anger and boos from long lines
During the time they were waiting, the voters united in one voice to sing “Cielito Lindo”, one of the most representative songs of Mexicans. But also, according to EFE there were some boos and anger due to the long wait.
María Irais Gutiérrez, from Chiapas, who has been waiting in line for ten hours at the consulate in Washington DC and has been left at the door, unable to enter: “All day no one has told us that we were not going to arrive. I feel frustrated and angry because one comes happy to vote because it is our right and after waiting for so long it is courageous not to do so,” she told EFE.
Verónica González, originally from Guadalajara, was one of the last to be able to enter the consulate, which closed at 8:00 p.m. (same time as in Mexico), after ten hours of waiting.
“I think hope dies last. I want a change in my country and that is why I have waited so long,” he explains to EFE. The best thing about the day, in addition to being able to vote, is having met many compatriots with whom he has shared the wait.
“Mexico, beautiful and dear” was heard in the lines
In the early hours of the day, people applauded those who came out, with their thumbs up, victorious for having voted. They also sang “Mexico, linda y dear” that sounded throughout the block where the lines were made so that everyone knew that they were ready to cast their vote for their country.
In Los Angeles they started the day applauding and waving Mexican flags, but as the hours went by people became increasingly angry and began to shout to let them pass.
María, 55 years old, took four hours to vote: “We are very dissatisfied, we deserve more organization to avoid all this waste of time. They told us that we could come in advance and that we would leave quickly, but I think they did not think about the big call because there are a lot of people,” she stressed.
Biggest elections in history
This was the first time that citizens have been able to vote in person abroad on the same day of the elections, the largest in history, with 97 million people called to the polls. That is why many have opted for this option, instead of prior voting by mail or email.
What was the main problem throughout the day? The first was the lack of organization when it came to lining up and dividing registered voters from unregistered voters, as many of those present complained.
The second, the slowness and complexity of the electronic voting system, with tablets as the only option to vote.
“The voting that is carried out in the consulates is not through a printed ballot and a ballot box, but in electronic ballot boxes that imply that citizens have to be using an electronic device and most of those who have come are older adults who They lack those digital skills,” Leobardo Mendoza, INE liaison in Los Angeles, explained to EFE.
With three hours to go before the closing of the nine voting stations installed at the Los Angeles consulate, where 1,362 people were registered to vote, only 544 had voted and “200 or 300 more” were expected to vote, Mendoza said.
In Washington, with half an hour left before the closing of this consulate, which only had five tables installed, 640 people had voted, 255 who had already registered and 385 who were not registered, according to data from the INE.
According to the INE, 258,461 could vote from abroad
That has been another of the problems, that the population was encouraged to go to vote despite not being registered and the turnout has been much greater than expected, there were not enough polling stations and the consulates have been overwhelmed.
According to the INE, 258,461 people could vote from abroad in these elections, the majority residing in the United States. Outside the country, there are only three operational consulates in which it was possible to vote today: Madrid, Paris and Montreal.
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