SIGHTINGS



876 Mexican Voting Booths
To Be Set Up In US
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
8-23-99

 
MEXICO CITY - A Mexican political party intends to set up hundreds of polling stations in the United States next month so the more than 7 million Mexican expatriates can vote in the party's presidential nomination, a newspaper reported Sunday.
 
Supporters of the pro-business National Action Party in the United States have said they wish to be included in the Sept. 12 vote, a party official told the Mexico City daily Reforma.
 
The party official, Mario Barrientos, said 576 voting centers with 876 booths would be set up in California, Texas and Illinois, the states with the most Mexican nationals. Voters can also cast ballots via the Internet.
 
The vote will formalize the selection of Gov. Vicente Fox of the central state of Guanajuato, the only candidate seeking National Action's presidential nomination.
 
Opposition parties and U.S. groups have lobbied to let the expatriates take part in the July 2000 presidential vote.
 
But the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party argued that it would be technically impossible and compromise the integrity of the election. The Senate, also controlled by the ruling party, killed the proposal last month. (AP)





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