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2.22.2006

Pew Hispanic Center Survey of Mexicans Living in the U.S. on Absentee Voting in Mexican Elections

by Roberto Suro and Gabriel Escobar

Report Materials

Download PDF Complete Report

Other Resources

Strict requirements, insufficient information about registration procedures and lack of public interest hobbled Mexico's first effort to conduct absentee voting among its more than ten million adult citizens living in the United States, according to a Pew Hispanic Center survey. About one-half of one percent of Mexicans in the U.S. sought absentee ballots for the presidential election in July during a registration period which ended last month.

The survey found that more than half (55%) of Mexicans in the U.S. were not aware that a presidential election is taking place this year and that few were familiar with the regulations and procedures adopted by the Mexican government last June when it authorized absentee voting for Mexicans abroad. About a third knew that the deadline for seeking an absentee ballot had just passed at the time of the survey. Only one of every ten eligible voters could correctly answer a set of factual questions about the procedures for getting a ballot.

The survey findings are based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 987 Mexican-born adults living in the United States.

Other Resources

Toplines

Toplines - English
Toplines - Spanish

Official Sources

Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior
Made for Mexicans living abroad, has links to various services offered to Mexican citizens, including voting information. (In Spanish)

Research

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Updated news, analysis and research on the Mexican Elections of 2006.