Neither Here nor There, I Do Not Vote and I Do Not Care: The External Electoral Participation of Mexican Migrants in New Zealand

Abstract

In 2006, an estimated 4.2 million Mexican emigrants were entitled to vote in presidential elections in Mexico, making this country the highest potential recipient of external votes around the world. Despite this fact, during the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections, less than 1 % of that estimated population actually casted their external votes raising questions about how previous patterns of political behavior can transcend borders and accompany migrants to their new countries. In this work, I argue that Mexican migrants’ interaction with an established democracy such as New Zealand is not a fundamental reason to encourage political participation through external voting. Through a qualitative lens, the paper attempts to analyze sentiments, attitudes, and behaviors of Mexican migrants toward the political arena and their effect in preventing or encouraging formal participation in Mexican elections. I conclude that cultural patterns of electoral behavior that originated in Mexico play a decisive role in the way Mexicans relate to their native country, regardless of the intensity of political integration to New Zealand democracy.