Long before 5 a.m., people eager to cast ballots in Mexico’s presidential election began forming a line outside the Mexican consulate in Chicago. By midday, thousands of people took over South Ashland Avenue, forcing police to close streets and set up barricades to control the lines.
For the first time, Mexican nationals could vote in person at consular offices around the world, in a historic election in which the country is set to elect its first female president. Voters will decide whether or not Claudia Sheinbaum, affiliated with the left-wing Morena party, will vote Xochitl Galveztogether with the center-right party PAN, will succeed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a populist and creator of the Morena movement.
With only nine voting booths at the Mexican consulate, the process was lengthy and frustrating for some in Chicago — some waited more than 10 hours — but they were excited and determined to vote.
For some Mexican immigrants, the ability to vote in person from Chicago encouraged them to vote, many for the first time ever. Others said the election of the first female president inspired them to line up despite the lack of coordination.
“We want to vote, we want to vote,” dozens of people chanted as the lines came to a halt and the sun shone on their faces. While 1,317 Mexican nationals registered to vote in person in Chicago, only 1,500 electronic ballots were available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the National Electoral. Institute, or INE.
A total of 10,560 Mexicans in the Chicago area have registered to vote in person, online and by mail, making Chicago the city with the second-highest number of Mexican citizens registered to vote in the United States, Eduardo said Puga of the National Electoral Institute. .
The latest census data shows that 1 in 5 Chicagoans identifies as Mexican. People from throughout the Chicago area, suburbs and nearby states who had not registered traveled to the Mexican Consulate in Chicago hoping for a chance to win one of 1,500 electronic ballots. Hundreds were expected to be left out.
“They (INE) underestimated our power and our presence in Chicago,” said Edith Cortez, a native of Guerrero, Mexico. She has lived in Wood Dale for 34 years, but “one day” she wants to return to Mexico, she said. Although she was frustrated after waiting in line for more than six hours to vote, she refused to leave.
“It makes me proud to see that so many Mexicans want to vote here,” Cortez said. “This shows how hungry we are for change in our country; we must unite, after all we were forced from our country to the United States by former politicians.
A female president opens the door to creating a domino effect of change in a country so deeply correlated with a macho culture, Cortez said.
“We are making progress, regardless of which candidate wins, we are moving in the right direction,” she said, referring to Sheinbaum, who has remained the frontrunner for most of the campaign, and her opponent, Xóchitl Gálvez. A third, less popular candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the Citizens’ Movement, is also running.
Voters will also have a say in nine gubernatorial races, including the states of Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatán and Mexico City, 128 senators of the republic and all 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies.
López Obrador, a populist popularly known as AMLO, is ending his term as one of the most popular and controversial leaders in modern history after taking control of established major parties in Mexico.
Sheinbaum, a scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, represents Morena, the country’s current ruling party. Her opponent, Gàlvez, is a former senator representing a coalition of the National Action Party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution.
Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the current policy of expanding social programs for the country’s low-income and working class. Meanwhile, Gàlvez has vowed to quell violence and corruption, sharply criticizing AMLO’s failed policies to stop cartel violence.
Although still very popular, López Obrador has shown himself to be intolerant of criticism and scrutiny. And his critics say his efforts to attack the judiciary, cut funding for Mexico’s electoral agency and expand the military’s responsibilities in civilian life have eroded Mexico’s democracy. The opposition has responded with large protests.
López Obrador is considered Sheinbaum’s mentor, and if she is elected it would cement his legacy and show that his Morena party can survive beyond his presidency.
After waiting in line for more than six hours, two brothers, Daniel Peña Salgado, 77, and Angel Peña Salgado, 83, gave up and left the line.
“We are disappointed,” said Angel Peña Salgado. “We vote in every election; it is important to vote, it is our responsibility.” However, the two did not sign up and could no longer bear to stand in line without eating or sitting down.
Daniel Peña Salgado, who favors Sheinbaum, said he looked forward to seeing a woman in power in Mexico. “This is the year of the woman,” he said.
“I have faith that everything will work out,” Angel Pena Salgado said.
Unlike the two brothers, Juana Salgado, 77, and her son Carlos Salmeron, 55, were able to vote after waiting in line for just over eight hours. They drove from Blue Island and were in line at 5am. For them, a female president in Mexico provides a role model for the rest of the world, because gender “should not matter in determining someone’s ability to lead,” Salgado said.
Salgado said she votes in every presidential election, and she definitely wanted to be part of history.
“We deserve it, we work hard,” Salgado said. “It’s a chulada.”
“It is beautiful.”
Many Mexican nationals living in Chicago have deep roots in Mexico. Most have family living in Mexico and send money home religiously, which is part of the more than $63 billion in remittances sent to Mexico in 2023 — with the bulk coming from the United States — according to Banxico, the Mexican exchange Bank.
They say voting is a way to honor their roots and protect their capital as they plan to return or live in both the United States and Mexico. For those who are undocumented and cannot travel back to Mexico, voting gives them a voice in the future of the country they love, where they send money and a place they still consider home.
Several members of the Illinois Latino Caucus traveled to Mexico City to attend a watch party for Sheinbaum after members of her team invited them.
State Sen. Karina Villa said the candidate’s team had been working to get people in the Chicago area to vote.
“North America has the very first female president, and that is very important. This is exciting,” Villa said on a phone call from Mexico.
Villa, whose parents were Mexican immigrants, said of the winner: “They should look at the people who live in the US.”
“The number of people who came out to vote today shows the power of Mexicans in Chicago,” she said.
The power Villa is referring to is in numbers and money, she said. Mexico is the United States’ top trading partner, said Jaime di Paulo, president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“So the business conversation is very important and how each candidate wants to handle it,” Di Paulo said.
For Di Paulo, Gálvez is the candidate who has provided more information on how to improve trade or support relations between the two countries.
But having Mexico’s first female president is the most exciting part of this year’s elections for Di Paulo.
“That will silence a lot of people when it comes to labeling Mexico as a machista culture. I think Mexico will do the right thing, whoever wins,” Di Paulo said. “It’s a proud day to be Mexican, Mexican-American.”
At 7 p.m., lines were still wrapping around the blocks around the Mexican consulate, even though voting had closed. Some registered voters had waited more than twelve hours and were unable to vote. Angry and defeated, some began to leave the site.
