Way before 5 a.m. people eager to cast a vote for the Mexican presidential election began to form a line outside the Mexican Consulate in Chicago. By noon, thousands of people took over South Ashland Avenue, forcing police to close off streets and set up barricades to control the lines.
For the first time, Mexican nationals could cast a vote in person at consular offices around the world, in a historic election where the country is set to elect its first woman president. Voters will decide whether Claudia Sheinbaum, aligned with the left-wing party Morena, or Xóchitl Gálvez, 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 waiting more than 10 hours — but they were excited and committed to voting.
For some Mexican immigrants, the opportunity to vote in person from Chicago encouraged them to vote, many for the first time ever. Others said electing the first female president inspired them to wait in line despite the lack of coordination.
“We want to vote, we want to vote,” dozens chanted as the lines stalled and the sun hit their faces. While 1,317 Mexican nationals registered to vote in person in Chicago, there were only 1,500 available electronic ballots on a first-come, first-served basis for those who did not register but who had a valid Mexican voter’s identification card, according to the National Electoral Institute, or INE.
In all, 10,560 Mexicans in the Chicago area registered to vote in person, online and through the mail, making Chicago the city with the second-highest number of Mexican nationals registered to vote in the United States, said Eduardo Puga of the National Electoral Institute.
The latest census data indicates that 1 in 5 Chicagoans identify as Mexican. People from all over the Chicago area, suburbs and nearby states who did not register traveled to the Mexican Consulate in Chicago hoping to get a chance to access one of the 1,500 electronic ballots. Hundreds were expected to be left out.
“They (INE) underestimated our power, our presence in Chicago,” said Edith Cortez, who is from Guerrero, Mexico. She has been living in Wood Dale for 34 years, but “one day” she wants to return to Mexico, she said. Though she was frustrated after more than six hours waiting in line to vote, she refused to leave.
“It makes me proud to see so many Mexicans here willing to vote,” Cortez said. “This shows how hungry we are for a change in our country; we must unite, after all, we’ve been forced out of our country into the United States by former politicians.”
A woman president opens the door to create a domino effect of changes in a country that has been so deeply correlated with a macho culture, Cortez said.
“We are progressing, regardless of which candidate wins, we’re going in the right direction,” she said, referring to Sheinbaum, who has remained the front-runner for the majority of the campaign, and her opponent, Xóchitl Gálvez. A third, less popular candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez of Citizen’s 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 colloquially known as AMLO, finishes his term as one of the most popular and controversial leaders in modern history after taking the reins from established major parties in Mexico.
Sheinbaum, a scientist and former Mexico City mayor, is representing 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 promised to continue current policies of expanding social programs for the country’s low-income and working class. Meanwhile, Gàlvez has promised to quell violence and corruption, harshly criticizing AMLO’s failed policies to stop cartel violence.
Though he remains highly popular, López Obrador has shown himself to be intolerant of criticism and oversight. And his critics say his moves to attack the judiciary, slash funding to Mexico’s electoral agency and expand the military’s responsibilities in civilian life have eroded Mexican 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 stepped out of the line.
“We are disappointed,” said Angel Peña Salgado. “We vote for every single election; it’s important to vote, it’s our responsibility.” The two, however, did not register and could no longer handle waiting in line without eating or sitting down.
Daniel Peña Salgado, who prefers Sheinbaum, said he was looking 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,” said Angel Pena Salgado.
Unlike the two brothers, Juana Salgado, 77 and her son Carlos Salmeron, 55, were able to vote after waiting in line for a little over eight hours. They drove from Blue Island and were in line by 5 a.m. To them, a woman president in Mexico sets a role model for the rest of the world because gender “shouldn’t matter to determine a person’s capability to lead,” Salgado said.
Salgado said that she votes in every presidential election, and she wanted to make sure to be a part of history.
“We deserve it, we work hard,” Salgado said. “Es una chulada.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Many Mexican nationals living in Chicago have deep roots in Mexico. Most have family living in Mexico and religiously send money back home, forming part of the more than $63 billion in remittances sent to Mexico in 2023 — with most of the money arriving from the United States — according to Banxico, Mexico’s central bank.
They say voting is a way of honoring their roots and protecting their capital because they intend to go back or live in both the United States and Mexico. For those who are undocumented and cannot travel back to Mexico, voting gives them a say 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 go out and vote.
“North America is having the first-ever female president, and that is really significant. This is electrifying,” Villa said on a phone call from Mexico.
Villa, whose parents were Mexican immigrants, said of the winner: “They must take a look at the folks living in the U.S.”
“The number of people that showed up to vote today shows the power of Mexicans in Chicago,” she said.
The power Villa refers to is in numbers and money, she said. Mexico is the United States’ No. 1 trading partner, said Jaime di Paulo, who is president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“So the business conversation is very important and how each candidate plans to deal with it,” Di Paulo said.
To Di Paulo, Gálvez is the candidate who has provided more information about how to improve trade or support small-business relationships between the two countries.
But having the first Mexican woman president is the most exciting part of this year’s elections for Di Paulo.
“That is going to shut a lot of people down in terms of labeling Mexico a machista culture. I think that Mexico is doing the right thing, whoever wins,” Di Paulo said. “It’s a proud day to be Mexican, Mexican American.”
By 7 p.m., the lines still wrapped around the blocks that surrounded the Mexican Consulate even though voting had been closed. Some registered voters had waited more than 12 hours and did not get to vote. Angry and defeated, some started leaving the grounds.
