Assessing Emigrant Participation in Home Country Elections: The Case of Mexico’s 2006 Presidential Election

How did Mexican migrants react to the opportunity to formally participate for the first time in home country politics during the 2006 Presidential Election? In this paper, we attempt to explain the low level of migrant voter registration in home country elections. Grounding ourselves on the existing literature on voter turnout, we verify two hypotheses that focus (1) on the role of Mexican authorities, and (2) on the interest of migrants and migrant associations in home country politics. Building on the case of Mexico, the paper concludes with proposing a series of variables upon which we suggest research could focus in order to assess migrant voter turnout in home country elections.