Mexican Citizens Living In U.S. Head South To Vote At Border
ROSEMARY CHURCH, WORLD NEWS: Many Mexican nationals residing in the United States are heading south to vote in the national elections. But few will get the chance. Border voting stations are limited to 750 ballots, a legacy of past election fraud. CNN's Jim Hill has more.</s>JIM HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mexican political rallies in Los Angeles and campaign posters near the city's Mexican consulate - signs that the campaign for Mexico's highest office has energized the estimated 1.5 million voter-eligible Mexican citizens living in the</s>U.S. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're expecting it to be a routine election, and that's what's exciting about this election that's coming up.</s>HILL: For the first time, they'll be able to vote at more than 60 special polling places in Mexican border cities.</s>JOSE HERNANDEZ, MEXICAN VOTING ACTIVIST: Very exciting, and I think we're going to make sure that we are a factor in the election. And hopefully, our candidate wins.</s>HILL: Mexicans living in the U.S. have close ties with their hometowns and altogether send an estimated $6 billion to their families in Mexico each year. They can also have strong influence on how their relatives vote.</s>EMILY EDMONDS, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA: They tend to favor the opposition, precisely because they tend to be the disaffected that have left and are - and or rather than perhaps voting or voting with their feet by leaving the country.</s>HILL: The three leading candidates all promise cambio - change - for Mexico after a series of economic crises over the past two decades. (on camera): The U.S. shares a 2,000-mile border with Mexico and now ranks the neighbor to its south as its second-biggest trading partner.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our ability to sell our goods and services to Mexico is, of course, directly affected by the health of the Mexican economy and, in turn, by the stability of the Mexican government.</s>HILL: It's also believed a strong Mexican economy can help reduce illegal immigration to the U.S. The cross-border interest has even led two of the candidates to California. Vicente Fox, victory signing his way through crowds in Fresno. And Cuahtemoc Cardenas meeting the Spanish language press in Los Angeles - a curious campaign blend of two nations with an outcome that could affect both. Jim Hill, CNN, Los Angeles.