Written by Marko Sanchez, Cisneros Scholar '27
On February 6th, the Cisneros Hispanic Institute in partnership with the GW Mexican Student Association (MXGW) held an open dialogue on the importance of the Mexican vote abroad. The guest speaker for the event was Arturo Castillo Loza, councilor of the National Electoral Institute (INE in Spanish). The INE is the chief electoral agency in Mexico; independently overseeing redistricting and election processes.
In this discussion, Mr. Castillo Loza touched on the technological advancements that have made voting easier for the Mexican diaspora. Given the stakes of Mexican elections, the INE has sprung on a global campaign to drive out the vote abroad that includes online webinars, in-person informational sessions, and a robust social media campaign. According to the Institute of Mexicans Abroad approximately twelve million Mexicans live abroad, making it the second largest diaspora in the world. Mr. Castillo Loza further noted that, “one million of such can sway the outcome of a Mexican presidential election” (translated from Spanish).
Considering the ordinance that has extended in-person voting to those abroad, Mexican nationals are being encouraged to file their voter registration at Voto Extranjero by the extended deadline of February 25th to be eligible to vote at Mexican consulates by the election on June 2nd.
This event was moderated by the co-presidents of MXGW, Keren Alfaro and Abasiono Rendon. The Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute would like to thank Affiliate Faculty Dr. Manuel Cuellar and Dr. Gema Kloppe-Santamaría for their contributions.
Marko Sanchez is a Cisneros Scholar majoring in Political Science and History. Marko's views are their own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.