Story and Photo by INE-Mexico | SEPT. 2, 2022 (translated from Google)
The National Electoral Institute (INE) held a meeting with a group of dreamers to discuss issues of credentialization and voting of Mexican men and women living abroad.
The President of the INE, Lorenzo Córdova Vianello, said that the Institute "is everyone's. There is no institution in which this is so true," because in order for the INE to carry out its work, it needs all Mexicans.
In 2024, he stressed to young people living in the United States, it is the great electoral event in history "and I think it is very important that all Mexicans, wherever they are, can participate and decide the future of the country."
"When one says that the INE is of the citizens, I think that in no other body of the Mexican State is it so true, because simply and simply without the citizens, the INE could not do its job. We set the table, but it is the citizens who make the elections," he reiterated.
The INE is much more than plastic.
The National Electoral Institute, the President Counselor shared with the dreamers, "it is much more than a plastic, it is much more than an ID and of everything that is behind it, the INE is much more than an institution that makes only elections. The truth is, the number of functions it performs, few electoral bodies in the world have it. Yes, it is an organ that costs society, but that also gives it many services."
In the INE, Córdova Vianello said, "we do not only organize elections, we give the Credential to Vote that has become the most important identity mechanism; we have to supervise and fine the parties; we have to monitor the Mexican model, unlike the American one and we give many services to other institutions in the country."
"Being registered in the Electoral Register and, consequently, having your INE, makes them citizens with many more rights and not only because they will be able to vote or, eventually, be voted, but also because it will allow them to identify themselves" and this is the only identity mechanism recognized in some states such as California, he stressed.
The President Counselor acknowledged that there is still much to be done to be able to "maximize the services that the INE allows, which go beyond," such as the protection of the largest personal database, including biometric data, that the Mexican State has.
Córdova Vianello invited young people living in the United States to maintain permanent contact with the Institute and to obtain their Voting Credential in order to exercise their political rights.
"Because a citizen who knows his rights, who knows them, who appropriates them, defends them in a better way. So this is winning, winning wherever you want to see him," he said.
Thanks to INE meetings you will be able to provide a more effective service abroad
During the meeting, Councilor Claudia Zavala said that it is a wealth for the Institute to receive the dreamers, "because it implies that we begin to have a dialogue that I hope will be permanent in the face of a conquest of rights that have been generated through several generations and that today you will also be able to exercise. It's not just the right to vote, we have much more to exercise in Mexico as rights, regardless of where they are."
The president of the Voting Commission of Mexicans and Mexicans Living Abroad informed the young dreamers that currently at the INE, following talks like this, "we have realized several things we have to do to be able to provide a more effective service to all Mexican people who reside abroad, at this new moment."
All the credentials issues, he assured, "we are working on them. The pandemic caused many things to move, it is a work that we do together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the consulates and that we are perfecting these communication models."
Councilor Zavala offered to review the cases of the dreamers in particular related to their Voting Credential process and said that this would not be the first time they have found the INE. "This institution belongs to all of you, we simply administer the service and take care of generating decision-making to make it a reality and to guarantee the effectiveness of all the political-electoral rights of Mexicans," he concluded.
Voting Credential is used for dreamers to participate and recover their identity
The meeting was presented by the president of the California-Mexico Studies Center, Armando Vazquez-Ramos, who assured that the objective of his project is for young people to return to the United States to be spokespersons for this experience and ensure that their families, parents and loved ones can register to obtain their Voting Credential.
"What we want is to promote civic education and make our community aware of the importance of voting," he stressed. "We instill in them and try to get them back with a sense that they are from here and they are from there and the credential is a requirement for them to participate, but also to regain their identity."
Among the dreamers who attended the INE - all with university studies - are Emilia Ortega, who lives in San Diego and is originally from Michoacán; Eve Flores, who lives in California and is originally from Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico; Everardo Victoriano, from Zitácuaro, Michoacán; Yalitza Baeza, from Guadalajara, Jalisco
All of them shared their experience in processing their Voting Credential in the United States, as well as the difficulties they have faced in applying for and receiving it.
