Presidential Elections South of the Border

On July 1, Mexicans made records in showing up at the polls. We have definitely stayed up to date on the candidates and prayed about who to vote for. I will not share any names of who the candidates are. You guys can read CNN and connect the dots. :)

Voting here in Mexico is a little bit different from the homeland. First of all the IFE, which is the federal voting agency here in Mexico, requires all that want to vote to register months beforehand. The people are divided by address into sections and in each section they have a couple of locations to choose from (at least that is the case in the federal district). Here's the deal. People are selected and required to be part of the process. I would compare it to Jury Duty in the states. So the election booths are sometimes in houses, garages, etc. It was strange. Then they painted Gabo's finger with a permanent marker so he couldn't go to the other location to vote again. Crazy huh?

In Mexico, there is a history of rumored fraudulent voting that takes place. Mexicans are adamant in using a crayon or marker to cast their ballot for fear of someone erasing their pencil mark. In the past some parties have "bought" the election booth for thousands of dollars--meaning they pay off all the workers so that they win the district. Even here in Mexico a local church was pushing the republican candidate and giving an offering of $50 to each church member to camp out and observe the voting booth in their neighborhood. Ultimately, we don't know how much that happened this time...but it is completely possible.

There were 3 main candidates. Up until 12 years ago, one party controlled and won every election leading up to the year 2000. This party has a history of being really into themselves and have been consistently linked to ex-governors that are leading the charge in the drug cartel. Pretty shady stuff full of corruption and all that jazz. Some people trust that party regardless of the history went with the "tradition of Mexico" and wanted to go with Old Faithful.

So we watched on Sunday this guy win. For me it's not that our guy didn't win, it's about who did. This guy's resume is not pretty.

• He was the governor of the state of Mexico and did nothing.
• His wife mysteriously was murdered and he never talks about it. 
• He has no idea about the basics of being a normal Mexican i.e. the price of a pack of tortillas
• He brings his own supporters and hides in bathrooms from opponents
• He can't name 3 books that changed his life.
• He makes no sense in debates and his future policies. 

So there are 2 possible choices that happened on Sunday and excuse my bluntness. 1. Ignorance of people or 2. It was rigged. 

I think it's a little bit of both but mostly ignorance. You see the majority of voters in Mexico are not connected to social media, they never heard him speak in a debate or interview, they don't want YouTube to see his blunders. They are just voting on tradition.

As someone that sees the potential for growth in Mexico, I am deeply saddened by the tailspin of the elections. Mexico cannot advance without exposing the truth and education of people.

We feel more than ever that we need a Revolution in the minds and hearts of the people. Will you pray with us?