Claudia Sheinbaum made history earlier this month by becoming the first woman and first Jewish person elected president in Mexico. The former mayor of Mexico City is a member of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), a left-wing party with a progressive vision of comprehensive social reforms that resonated with a wide spectrum of voters.

Sheinbaum’s net is so wide-reaching, in fact, that it drove thousands of Mexican nationals living outside of their home country to stand in line for hours waiting for their opportunity to cast a vote.

Jorge Mújica is an immigrant rights activist who waited in line June 2 at Chicago’s Mexican consulate from 7:50 a.m. until the polls closed at 7 p.m. to vote for Sheinbaum, but he was turned away.

“The National Elections Institute didn’t think so many Mexicans were going to vote,” said Mújica, who estimates at least 1,600 people were already present when he arrived early that morning.

This election is the first time Mexican nationals in Chicago were able to exercise their civic duties in person. The landmark initiative is part of a broader effort by the Mexican government to enfranchise its diaspora, ensuring that Mexicans living abroad can actively participate in their home country’s democratic process.

Previously, Mexican expatriates could only vote through mail-in ballots, a process that often posed logistical challenges and limited participation.

“I think we underestimate how much Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans generally are interested in the electoral process,” said Lilia Fernandez, history professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and author of the book “Brown in the Windy City: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Postwar Chicago.”

“It’s important for people to remember that Sheinbaum becomes the 12th woman president in all of Latin America, a region that the United States tends to think is less politically progressive,” Fernandez said, noting this election should make Americans reconsider the democratic possibilities in Mexico.

Casa Michoacan case manager Jesús Pérez was one of the 1,357 Chicagoans who successfully voted in-person at the consulate. “They were telling us we weren’t going to be able to vote, that our voices wouldn’t count this time.”

Pérez got to the consulate at 7:30 a.m. and got to the ballot 20 minutes before it closed. The Pilsen resident said he didn’t vote for the president-elect but instead for Bertha Xóchitl Gálvez Ruíz of the National Action Party.

“I’m really proud to have the first woman as the president,” Pérez said. “Moving forward, we just want what’s best for Mexico.”

Chicago had the second-highest voter turnout in the United States, just behind Los Angeles and ahead of New York City.

Fernandez said the large turnout proves Mexican people care about political issues, and it’s more likely that barriers of access are getting in the way of Mexican participation.