Iowa's Mexicans likely to miss election
Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2006
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Mexican citizens living in Iowa are unlikely to participate in their nation's election due to a cumbersome registration process that requires them to return to Mexico, officials said.
"The methodology they used accounts for the low numbers. It's not the will of the people," said Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs.
Last year, the Mexican government decided to allow citizens living abroad to vote in the upcoming presidential election in July. But voter ID cards required to obtain an absentee ballot were issued only in Mexico.
Of an estimated 4 million eligible voters worldwide, only about 18,600 had registered by the Jan. 15 deadline, according Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute.
Villareal said those living in the United States illegally fear they wouldn't be able to return. Even if they felt comfortable with the trip, many would be unable to afford the expense, he said.
"Why are they living outside their own country? Jobs. This country has a huge want ads sign facing south," Villareal said.
About 4 percent of Iowa's population is Hispanic, according to U.S. Census figures. Most immigrants are from Mexico and tend to be concentrated in counties with meatpacking plants -- Buena Vista, Louisa, Crawford and Marshall, among others, according to Liesl Eathington, an industry and labor force specialist in the Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis at Iowa State University.
Patricia Hamm, professor of political science and U.S.-Latino studies at Iowa State, said registering to vote may have meant two trips back to Mexico -- one to request the voter ID card and another to pick it up.
"Even those able to travel frequently need to be able to stay or have the means to come back," she said.
Hamm, a Mexican citizen, said it took officials two weeks to issue her voter ID card.
The process was further complicated because an absentee ballot application then had to be obtained on the Internet or at a Mexican consulate or embassy.
Working-class Mexicans in Iowa may not be able to get time away from their jobs to visit the nearest consulate in Omaha, Neb., and many immigrants don't have access to a computer, Hamm said.
"I had a lot of problems downloading it," she said. "The system wasn't working properly. I was very frustrated. It took me three days to download it."
The final step involved completing the application and sending it to Mexico by certified mail, waiting for the actual ballot to arrive, then marking the ballot and returning it by certified mail.
Hamm said she was able to complete the process, but still worries about the reliability of the Mexican postal service or that election officials will find a problem with her ballot.
Mexican Consul Jose Cuevas said he has no way of knowing how many Mexicans living in Iowa registered to vote.
Maria Rundquist, a 15-year Sioux City resident who is a citizen of both the United States and Mexico, said she learned of the registration deadline only after it had passed.
"I didn't register," Rundquist said. "People I've talked to believe the vote from outside Mexico won't have much impact."
For future elections, voting advocates are expected to ask the Mexican government to issue registration cards in the United States and other nations. The process most likely would involve making the cards available at Mexican consulates, which are safe havens for illegal immigrants, Villareal said.
Election officials in Mexico said it would be expensive and logistically difficult to issue voting credentials outside Mexico and still guarantee protection from fraud.
Villareal said the history of Mexican-Americans in the Southwest shows that people will vote in large numbers when physical and administrative barriers are removed.
"We used to have a poll tax, gerrymandering was a barrier," he said. "But once the barriers were removed, people started to see real value in their vote. They registered in dramatic numbers."
"The methodology they used accounts for the low numbers. It's not the will of the people," said Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs.
Last year, the Mexican government decided to allow citizens living abroad to vote in the upcoming presidential election in July. But voter ID cards required to obtain an absentee ballot were issued only in Mexico.
Of an estimated 4 million eligible voters worldwide, only about 18,600 had registered by the Jan. 15 deadline, according Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute.
Villareal said those living in the United States illegally fear they wouldn't be able to return. Even if they felt comfortable with the trip, many would be unable to afford the expense, he said.
"Why are they living outside their own country? Jobs. This country has a huge want ads sign facing south," Villareal said.
About 4 percent of Iowa's population is Hispanic, according to U.S. Census figures. Most immigrants are from Mexico and tend to be concentrated in counties with meatpacking plants -- Buena Vista, Louisa, Crawford and Marshall, among others, according to Liesl Eathington, an industry and labor force specialist in the Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis at Iowa State University.
Patricia Hamm, professor of political science and U.S.-Latino studies at Iowa State, said registering to vote may have meant two trips back to Mexico -- one to request the voter ID card and another to pick it up.
"Even those able to travel frequently need to be able to stay or have the means to come back," she said.
Hamm, a Mexican citizen, said it took officials two weeks to issue her voter ID card.
The process was further complicated because an absentee ballot application then had to be obtained on the Internet or at a Mexican consulate or embassy.
Working-class Mexicans in Iowa may not be able to get time away from their jobs to visit the nearest consulate in Omaha, Neb., and many immigrants don't have access to a computer, Hamm said.
"I had a lot of problems downloading it," she said. "The system wasn't working properly. I was very frustrated. It took me three days to download it."
The final step involved completing the application and sending it to Mexico by certified mail, waiting for the actual ballot to arrive, then marking the ballot and returning it by certified mail.
Hamm said she was able to complete the process, but still worries about the reliability of the Mexican postal service or that election officials will find a problem with her ballot.
Mexican Consul Jose Cuevas said he has no way of knowing how many Mexicans living in Iowa registered to vote.
Maria Rundquist, a 15-year Sioux City resident who is a citizen of both the United States and Mexico, said she learned of the registration deadline only after it had passed.
"I didn't register," Rundquist said. "People I've talked to believe the vote from outside Mexico won't have much impact."
For future elections, voting advocates are expected to ask the Mexican government to issue registration cards in the United States and other nations. The process most likely would involve making the cards available at Mexican consulates, which are safe havens for illegal immigrants, Villareal said.
Election officials in Mexico said it would be expensive and logistically difficult to issue voting credentials outside Mexico and still guarantee protection from fraud.
Villareal said the history of Mexican-Americans in the Southwest shows that people will vote in large numbers when physical and administrative barriers are removed.
"We used to have a poll tax, gerrymandering was a barrier," he said. "But once the barriers were removed, people started to see real value in their vote. They registered in dramatic numbers."
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
