Hundreds of people waited in long lines at the Mexican consulate in San Jose to cast ballots in the historic Mexico presidential election. Marianne Favro reports.
Hundreds of people waited in long lines at the Mexican Consulate in San Jose Sunday to cast their vote in the country's historic presidential election.
At 5 p.m. on Sunday, the doors to the consulate was closed and no one else was allowed to cast their ballot and people were mad, especially after some said they waited more than nine hours to vote.
When the doors to the voting center closed, tensions increased with people chanting and pounding on the door. More than 300 people who wanted to vote were turned away.
The line wrapped around the building with hundreds standing under umbrellas to get relief from the heat. One woman told NBC Bay Area that she had been in line since 7:30 a.m. and didn’t get to vote.
This was considered a historic election because Mexico has never had a woman president and the two frontrunners are both women. It was also the first time Mexican nationals living abroad could cast a ballot at the consulate in person.
A National Institute for Elections spokesperson admitted on Sunday that they did not expect such a huge turnout. But he said that voters have had the opportunity to vote on line or by mail for months.
About 423 people were registered to vote in San Jose Sunday and there were at least 600 people, who were not registered, had a voting card and voted on Sunday. Adding to the frustrations, the air conditioning and elevator to the voting center broke.
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