MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE WEIGHT OF THE INTERNATIONAL VOTE
Date
2019-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the power of the international absentee
vote in the Mexican presidential elections through examination of trends and contrasts,
since its inception in 2006. It also looks at the steps that the Institución Federal
Electoral (IFE) and the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) have taken to encourage
voter participation. There is a brief overview of the history of Mexico and the current
three most popular political parties, background on how the IFE and INE operate and
the voter regulations, and, finally, analysis of the past three presidential elections
(2006, 2012, and 2018). Each election looks at three populations: domestic,
international, and the overall total votes for each party, allowing for comparisons
between the domestic and international vote. Research shows that there is still a great
portion of the international population that has remained absent in the election process,
in addition to this, the INE still has many regulations in place for submitting absentee
ballots that oftentimes deter potential voters. Surveys show that expatriate Mexican
citizens still consider the elections important to them, so it is imperative that the
Mexican government push for the INE to create a reform that will not only lessen the
burden of voting but also help create a larger presence worldwide for all Mexican
citizens to become aware of their right to vote and instructions on how to do so.
Description
Keywords
Political science, Mexico, Presidential election, International vote