Economic remittances, temporary migration and voter turnout in Mexico

Mexico is one of the largest recipients of international remittances in the world. Although there is increasing evidence of return migration in the country, little is known about the ways in which the impact of remittances on voter turnout differs according to temporary (circular) and permanent forms of migration. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by examining the interactive effect between remittances and return migration. Using a series of quantitative analyses based on aggregate data for all Mexican municipalities that held municipal elections between 2010 and 2012 and participated in the 2012 presidential election, the analysis confirms that voter turnout rates are negatively related to the percentage of households that receive remittances in a municipality. However, it reveals that the negative effect of remittances on voter turnout decreases as the percentage of households with return migrants in a municipality increases. This result is valid across elections at the presidential and municipal levels. The evidence thus confirms that the relationship between remittances and voter turnout varies according to whether emigration is temporary or permanent.