MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE WEIGHT OF THE INTERNATIONAL VOTE

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.