DemDaily: 6.5 Million Votes
October 4, 2022
According to the US State Department, there are an estimated 6.5 million Americans of voting age who live abroad.
That is roughly equivalent to the number of registered voters in Virginia, and more than enough to sway a presidential election.
Getting the vote out abroad, however, is an enormous challenge. At the forefront of that effort is Democrats Abroad, whose teams are working hard to make sure that every US and dual citizen overseas votes in November with the help of votefromabroad.org.
| Democrats Abroad is the official organization of the Democratic Party for United States citizens living permanently or temporarily overseas, and strives to provide Americans abroad a Democratic voice in our government and elect Democratic candidates by mobilizing the overseas vote. |
The organization is given state-level recognition by the Democratic National Committee and is represented on the DNC by eight voting members, as well as at the Democratic National Convention.
Democrats Abroad runs 48 country committees throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and has members in more than 200 countries around the globe who vote in every state and Congressional District in the United States.
History
Efforts to secure the voting rights of overseas citizens began with Democrats in Paris and London during the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon presidential election, leading to the creation of Democrats Abroad in 1964.
It was not until the passage of the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975, led by then-House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill, that the rights of these citizens were recognized.
Led by Democrats Abroad, legal protections and full voter access to register and vote by absentee ballot was finally provided through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986.
Since UOCAVA was enacted, legal barriers to expansion of voting have been removed. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 instituted permanent registration for two full federal election cycles, and the first collection of statistics on overseas absentee voting.
In 2020, 1.2 million ballots were cast by American voters living abroad, who had a measurable impact on the election outcome. Essentially the bluest of all "states," they helped bring home wins for Biden-Harris in Arizona and Georgia.
With a rapid increase in voter registration going into the 2022 midterms, the overseas vote is expected to have an even greater influence in November.
| "Our activists and organizers around the world are laser-focused on battleground races. We are determined to grow our majority in Congress! Overseas voters have and can provide the winning margins in close races." - DA International Chair Candice Kerestan |
How It Works
Overseas voters covered under the Act include members of the seven Uniformed Services and the US Merchant Marines and their family members, US citizens employed by the federal government, and private US citizens residing outside the country.
US citizens retain the right to vote no matter how long they have lived abroad. They vote in where they last resided, or if they have never lived in the US, where their US parent last resided. Each state has different procedures and deadlines, which can be found at votefromabroad.org.
The Help America Vote Act does not apply to non-federal elections, although the majority of states and territories allow qualifying citizens to register and vote in state and local elections as well.
Vote Now
Some of the earliest overseas voter registration deadlines start hitting this week!
Check your ballot at www.votefromabroad.org
Resources
* Outreach to members of Congress on major issues
* Phonebanking to hundreds of thousands of voters abroad: Help Here
* A 24/7 online voter help desk at votefromabroad.org
* Voter registration drives with thousands of study abroad programs: Here
* Voter registration outreach in nearly every country on earth
* Targeted emails to members with voter deadlines and ballot information
Learn More & Join: DemocratsAbroad.org
Questions: help@votefromabroad.org
Pass this on to friends overseas!
| Democrats Abroad Executive Committee: International Chair: Candice Kerestan (Germany) * International Vice Chair: Art Shankler (Serbia) * International Secretary: Leedonal 'Jazz' Moore (Switzerland) * International Treasurer: Cory Lemke (Korea) * International Counsel: Orlando Vidal (United Arab Emirates) * Regional Vice Chair, Asia Pacific: Nicholas Gordon (Hong Kong) * Regional Vice Chair, EMEA: Jennifer Rakow-Stepper (Austria). DNC Members: Candice Kerestan * Art Schankler * Adrianne George (Sweden) * Martha McDevitt-Pugh (Netherlands) * Ken Sherman (Canada) * Joseph Smallhoover (France) * Katie Solon (Germany) * John Baumlin (Japan) |
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