With two women frontrunners, Mexico will likely elect its first female president on June 2, and Mexican voters living in Texas will be able to vote for the country’s president, other federal offices and some governorships.
Mexico has allowed citizens living abroad to vote since the early 2000s, and as of Feb. 8th, 630,513 Mexicans living abroad are eligible to vote. In Texas, about 240,000 people have gotten voter IDs from the Dallas and Houston Mexican consulates and are eligible to register to vote in the June election.
Mexicans living abroad will be able to vote more easily this year using an online option on their mobile phones, said Juan Hernandez, the former secretary of migration for the Mexican state of Guanajuato who served as a cabinet member for former President Vicente Fox. Voters in certain countries, including the U.S,. will also be able to vote in person at certain Mexican consulates for the first time.
For president, voters will choose between candidates Claudia Sheinbaum of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party, Xotchil Gálvez of the Broad Front for México — a coalition of opposing parties — and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the Citizen Movement party.
Unlike elections in the U.S., where the Electoral College decides presidential elections, Mexico uses a simple majority vote to elect its president. In 2006, Felipe Calderón won by just 0.4% of the vote.
“You know, half a million [Mexican] voters in the United States, if the election is that close, can easily turn the election in Mexico,” said Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization based at Rice University in Houston. “That I think is important. It’s unlikely, but it is important to consider.”
Payan says Mexican voters in the U.S. and Texas are an important bellwether — Mexicans living abroad tend to overwhelmingly choose the winning candidate in Mexican elections.
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The number of people in the U.S. who could be eligible to vote in Mexico’s elections has increased dramatically in recent years after a 2021 constitutional amendment allowed Mexican nationality to be passed on indefinitely, which means people of Mexican descent can get Mexican citizenship even if their parents weren’t born in Mexican territory, as long as they can prove they had family with Mexican citizenship some time before.
“In the coming decade, I think we are going to see a Mexico that is highly linked to the Mexicans abroad,” Hernandez said.
In 2021, Mexico City elected its first migrant congressperson to represent Mexican citizens living abroad.
Here’s how Mexican citizens can vote in Mexico’s elections from Texas:
What dates do I need to know?
Feb. 25: The deadline to register to vote for those living abroad
April 7, April 28, May 19: Presidential debates will be broadcast on INE social media and Mexican radio and television platforms
May 18: Online voting opens at 8 p.m. CST and closes at 6 p.m. CST on June 2
June 1: The Instituto Nacional Electoral must receive mail-in ballots by 8 a.m. CST
June 2: Election Day in Mexico and also in person at consulates
What documents do I need to vote?
- Have a current Mexican voter ID (INE credencial para votar)
- To obtain a Mexican voter ID you need: Proof of Mexican citizenship (birth certificate or document of Mexican citizenship), a photo ID (including passport, Mexican driver’s license, or any government credentials with a photo) and proof of residence abroad (including phone, utility or school bills)
- If you don’t have a Mexican voter ID or yours expired, you can get one at your nearest Mexican consulate or embassy. Make an appointment by calling 424-309-0009, visit their website or visit in person. Mexican consulates and embassies are accepting walk-ins for voter IDs until Sunday, Feb. 25.
How do I register to vote from abroad?
Register to vote at the INE website using your voter ID. If you register to vote from abroad, you will not be allowed to vote in person on June 2 in Mexico.
How to vote
Online: You should receive an email no later than May 3 with access codes and a link to enter the electronic voting system.
On May 18, you will receive another verification code, either a 6-digit SMS message or a QR code that you can access with a downloadable app. You will need both codes to access the electronic voting system. Then you will submit your vote and verify all information.
By mail: You will receive your ballot during the first week of May at your home address, with an instruction manual and pre-paid envelope to mail it. Make sure to fold the ballot and submit it in the same colored envelope; if you have any time constraints call 866-986 8306.
In person: You can vote at INE-approved Mexican consulates on June 2. The consulates in Dallas and Houston are approved in Texas. More information on voting in person is available here.
Which offices are on the ballot?
- President
- Senate — all 128 seats
- Chamber of Deputies — all 500 seats
- Governorships in Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla and Yucatan, as well as Mexico City’s head of government
- Migrant representatives for Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca
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