Stakeholders address foreign vote

State Assembly Speaker Luis Moreno presided Tuesday over a remote forum to discuss a proposal that, if enacted, would allow Baja Californians living in foreign countries vote in the next elections.

Baja California is one of the 10 states that does not allow non-residents to vote. Moreno introduced a bill in November that is still in the Commission of Government, Legislation and Constitutional Affairs.

Any electoral reform bill must be approved 90 days before the start of the electoral process.

César Ledesma Ugalde, technical secretary of the Executive Directorate of the Federal Register of Voters, said the National Electoral Institute (INE), along with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SER), to date, have processed 15,095 voter credentials from Baja Californians abroad. Of these, 12,380 have been mostly delivered in the United States, particularly in the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Other stakeholders emphasized the need to promote the elections in areas where high numbers of Baja Californians reside by reaching out to Mexican organizations, Latino media outlets and social media.

Leticia Calderón, professor at the José María Luis Mora Research Institute, stressed that the dynamics of online voting, one of the modalities contemplated by Moreno’s bill, responds to the new normality that will be experienced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, it is necessary to advance more rapidly in its implementation.

David Rocha Moreno, of the Autonomous University of Baja California, said 70 percent of Baja Californians living in the United States reside in California.