The History of U.S. Elections as Seen by U.S. Hispanics

During the 20th century, U.S. Hispanics participated in politics in good faith and to the extent they were allowed. In spite of the fact that the de facto partial exclusion of Hispanics was at times a written and at times an implied rule during the 19th century, this group always admired the U.S. electoral system when the necessary guarantees were applied to ensure full suffrage as stipulated by the Constitution.

In the most Hispanic areas of the country, however, this was not always the case, and in 1855 an article was published in El Clamor Público in Los Angeles that urged respect for the system so that the entire electoral process would not become corrupt:

“Through the ballot box, the people elect their representatives, and if the sanctity of the right to vote is looked upon with disdain … there cannot be sustained progress in the public sector. If officials are elected using a corrupt system, it is absurd to expect them to be honest (September 4, 1855.)”

There have been no significant discrepancies in these principles and beliefs among the different ideological groups (from the most conservative or Libertarian to the most radical classical liberal movements) or at different periods of time.

This week we are presenting a text from the anti-Porfirio Díaz newspaper Regeneración. This was a radical classical liberal journal published in San Antonio, Saint Louis and Los Angeles from 1904 to 1922 by Juan Sarabia and the Flores Magón brothers (Jesús, Enrique and Ricardo).

The author of this article seems fascinated by the atmosphere of expectation in the U.S. on election night. The year was 1904 and the candidates were Alton B. Parker, Democrat, and Theodore Roosevelt, Republican. We, of course, know the results, but the author of this article is awed by the broad acceptance of the election results and the unquestioning acclamation throughout the land of support for the new president.

He pays relatively little attention to the results themselves, focusing more on the faith and trust the people seem to have in the system, something which he, as a recent arrival from Mexico, finds surprising. He draws comparisons with Mexico, the homeland of the paper’s writers, and the contrast couldn’t be more stark.

In Mexico, there was little interest in elections at this time because the results were already known before the election even took place. At this time, towards the end of the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship, there was no doubt as to who would “win.”

Díaz was re-elected eight times between 1876 and 1910, up to the time when Francisco I. Madero’s Partido Nacional Anti-Reeleccionista (the National Anti-Reelection Party) crossed the border into México from the United States and forced the fall of the porfirista regime.

The author of this article wanted Mexican voters to feel the same exhilaration that U.S. voters felt when elections were held, but in order for that to happen there had to be viable options, full suffrage, and a transparent electoral process like the one the writer saw in the United States.

The democratic traditions and aspirations of the U.S. Hispanics were once again evident. When democracy failed in some way in their countries of origin, they yearned for a better system and looked to the United States for a model.

The representative system in the U.S. had a great impact on U.S. Hispanics at the time, both recent arrivals and those who were established and had lived there for a long time. This same impression was the one that led Alexis de Tocqueville to write his famous book Democracy in America based on his travels in the U.S. in the 1830s.

Here is the editorial praising the United States electoral system published in the newspaper Regeneración.

Democracy. An election in the United States

The U.S. presidential election results were made known on the night of the 8th to the 9th of this month.

We have seen something that we have never seen in our country, in spite of the fact that our country is called a Republic and that we call ourselves citizens. We have watched Democracy at work.

On November 8, especially during the late evening hours, there was an almost palpable sense of expectation. Everyone was eager to find out the election results as votes were being counted and verified. People were crowding together waiting for the minute-to-minute election updates that were being telegraphed to newspaper publishers. Their curiosity was overwhelming and emotional tensions sometimes got the best of them. One minute Parker, the Democratic candidate, was ahead, and the next Roosevelt, the Republican candidate took the lead. No one knew who was going to win because the vote was neck-and-neck. Some proclaimed Roosevelt the winner, and others Parker. At last the telegram came with the final results and a wave of emotion coursed through the entire nation, from one end to the other. The Democratic Party had been defeated; Theodore Roosevelt was the new constitutionally-elected president of the United States.

What a difference there was between this grandiose and overpowering demonstration of democratic principles at work and the ridiculous electoral farces that the people in our country have to face. In Mexico, a presidential election does not provoke emotions, eagerness or doubt. In Mexico, tyranny has prevented democracy from working, and we all know that the one and only eternal candidate that for 27 years now has darkened our horizon with his fateful presence will always and undoubtedly win the presidential elections. We all know that in Mexico Porfirio Díaz will pig-headedly impose his will and occupy the post that he usurped from Lerdo de Tejada, and that is why, when we are called to vote, we feel no curiosity or eagerness; we feel only indignation.

But all is not lost. If we fight with honor and patriotism against tyranny, we can reestablish Democracy with a capital D in our beloved homeland.

(Regeneración, San Antonio, Texas,12-November-1904, p. 2)

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