MEXICAN NATIONALS IN U.S. TO VOTE OTHERS FACE HURDLES TO PARTICIPATE.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS  Special to the Daily News

PACOIMA -- For Raul Sandoval, being able to vote in Mexico's presidential election is about never forgetting the life he left behind.

A native of Michoacan, Mexico, Sandoval stressed how much he thinks about those he left behind 22 years ago, when he came to the U.S.

``We work here in the United States, but our family is in Mexico,'' Sandoval said.

``Our families are suffering the consequences of these corrupt governments and our people need a leader that will let them succeed.''

Sandoval, an immigration advocate, and busloads of other Mexican nationals are scheduled to leave this morning from Pacoima and Huntington Park, making a three-hour trek to cast their ballots in this year's hotly contested presidential election -- a right awarded last June to Mexicans living abroad.

But a complicated and confusing voter registration process left Sandoval and many others struggling to fulfill what they see as their duty to their native country.

``It is like they gave us half of what they promised, when it came to voting,'' Sandoval said.

Of 4 million eligible Mexican voters living in the U.S., just 35,673 submitted absentee ballots by Friday.

That left thousands of others to make their way to voting stations set up at 16 border towns by the Instituto Federal Electoral. And advocates have blamed the IFE for bogging down the voting process with complicated voting procedures.

IFE spokesperson Moises Bailon said the organization would review the success of the voting program once the ballots are tallied.

Victor Victoriano, who has lived in the United States 44 years, said the process was just too complicated for most people.

``People here are so busy, juggling two or three jobs, and have no one to explain them the process,'' Victoriano said.

To register to vote, expatriates had to obtain an electoral card, which could be issued only in Mexico -- a requirement that excluded many Mexicans in the U.S. illegally who feared they would be unable to return.

Others were unable to get their absentee ballot applications in before the Jan. 15 deadline.

Mexican voters are choosing from among three very different candidates in a controversial election that is expected to create change in bilateral relations regardless of who is the victor.

Still many are like homemaker Esperanza Garcia, who said she would not vote in Mexico's election because she feels more allegiance to the country she adopted more than 20 years ago.

``I am more from here than I am from there,'' said Garcia, who is undocumented. ``The Mexican government doesn't even know I exist.''

But Sandoval, a U.S. citizen, said forgetting your heritage is the biggest mistake any Mexican can make.

``You have to remember where you came from, how you got here,'' Sandoval said, ``and who you left behind.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

Raul Sandoval will travel to Mexico to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sandoval is rallying other Mexican nationals in the U.S. to vote.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Map:

Few Mexicans abroad registered to vote

SOURCE: Mexican Federal Election Institute

Associated Press