Many people waited for hours outside the San Diego Mexican Consulate in Little Italy on Sunday as the consulate took votes from Mexican citizens living in the U.S. for the first time in history.
Voters waiting in long lines snaking around the block in San Diego mirrored those just across the border in Tijuana even as polls closed at 5 p.m.
According to the National Electoral Institute, 560 people registered to vote at the San Diego Mexican Consulate, but those who didn’t register beforehand showed up in-person.
Many of them told NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada they had been waiting in line for seven or nine hours.
Some voters expressed frustration because they had been in line since Sunday morning hoping to exercise their civic right, but became unsure they would be able to do so.
“I’ve been here going around and around, changing lines because there’s no organization at all,” said voter Carmen Barbero.
“I’m a Mexican citizen. I live here in San Diego, California, and I want to exercise my vote and this is a mess,” said voter Priscila Aguilar.
One election volunteer felt exasperated with the situation.
“There’s a lot of people that are already registered and they’re still staying in the same line as the people who haven’t registered yet,” said volunteer Joellen Handelsman.
With just over a week until Mexico’s presidential election, NBC 7’s Omari Fleming spoke with an economics professor about some of the impacts the result will have on the region.
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