Democrats Abroad
| |
Founded | 1964 |
---|---|
Affiliation | Democratic Party |
Office location |
430 South Capitol Street SE Washington, D.C., U.S. 20003 |
Country | United States |
Website | DemocratsAbroad.org |
Democrats Abroad is the official organization of the Democratic Party for United States citizens living permanently or temporarily abroad. The organization is given state-level recognition by the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats Abroad currently has members in more than 190 countries, with more than 41 organized country committees.[1] There are committees in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. These committees are formally represented by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA). Some countries with particularly large concentrations of Democratic expatriates even have local chapters. Young Democrats Abroad represents Democrats Abroad in the functions of the Young Democrats of America.
Voting from abroad
One of the prime functions of Democrats Abroad is to assist U.S. citizens abroad in voter registration. To this end, it has created a Website VoteFromAbroad.org which overseas Americans (Democrats and non-members alike) can use to register to vote. Since Presidents and members of Congress are elected by state, Americans abroad vote in the state in which they have most recently lived, each of which has its own registration and voting procedures.
The votefromabroad.org website asks voters which state they last lived in and then starts a wizard specific to their state that asks for the information necessary to comply with the election laws of that state. After all the information has been supplied, a PDF is created, which the voter can then print, sign, and mail to the address provided (or sometimes fax, or scan and attach to email). Online voter registration is offered in Arizona (2002),[2] Washington (2008)[3] and 29 other states as of June 2016 [4]
Several weeks before the election, the Board of Elections or County Registrar (states use various names) sends the voter an absentee ballot which the voter then fills out and sends back in order to cast his or her vote.
Activities
In addition to helping Americans living overseas to register to vote, Democrats Abroad engages in many other activities, mostly on a per country or per locality basis. Among other things, Democrats Abroad:
- Provides help where there are problems with absentee ballots
- Organizes lectures, debates, and other events on political topics, often with guest speakers
- Strengthens contact between American ambassadors and consuls and overseas Americans
- Lobbies Congress on expatriate issues (e.g. citizenship for children born abroad etc.)
- Represents Americans abroad in the Democratic National Committee
- Raises funds for the Democratic Party
- Runs a Democrats Abroad website containing news for Americans abroad, including the Voting Action Center to provide late-breaking news for voters
Leadership
Democrats Abroad has eight officers. All of them are elected.[5] Officers include:
- International Chair - Julia Bryan
- International Vice Chair - Alexander Montgomery
- International Treasurer - Lissette Wright
- International Secretary - Jeffrey Cheng
- International Counsel - Tom Schmid
- Regional Vice Chair for the Americas - Jody Quinnell
- Regional Vice Chair for Asia/Pacific - Shaun Barnes
- Regional Vice Chair for Europe, Middle East and Africa - Will Bakker
Democrats Abroad is represented on the Democratic National Committee by eight members. The International Chair and Vice Chair are ex-officio members of the DNC.
Various country committees of Democrats Abroad have local caucuses representing groups such as Young Democrats, minorities, women, and the LGBT community.
History
Democrats Abroad was started with two small committees in London and Paris after Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. presidential election. Its original leaders, Toby Hyde and Al Davidson, raised funds and formed committees, and pushed for state-level recognition of Democrats Abroad. DNC Chairman John Bailey allowed Democrats Abroad to send nine non-voting representatives to the Democratic National Convention in 1972; in 1976, the group was granted the status of a state committee, with voting delegates in the Convention.
Over the years, Democrats Abroad has worked for securing the full citizenship rights for Americans living abroad. In particular, the group worked for overseas voting rights issues, supporting the Voting Rights Act of 1975, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act in 1986, and the Federal Emergency Write-In Ballot. Democrats Abroad switched the method of determining convention delegates from a primary to an open caucus in 1992. In 2008, Democrats Abroad switched back to a primary process. Former President Jimmy Carter is the current and first ever honorary chair of Democrats Abroad.[6]
Primaries
Democrats Abroad sends a delegation to the Democratic National Convention every four years and has done so since 1976. Democrats Abroad holds a global primary awarding delegates to the convention.
See also
References
- ↑ "Press". democratsabroad.org. Democrats Abroad. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- ↑ EZ Voter Registration: Arizona's online voter registration system
- ↑ "Register to Vote in Washington State".
- ↑ Legislatures, National Conference of State. "Online Voter Registration". www.ncsl.org. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ↑ "Executive Officers". democratsabroad.org. Democrats Abroad. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- ↑ http://www.democratsabroad.org/videos/carter Archived July 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
Media
- NYTimes - Forget Iowa. How About That Antarctica Vote? 16mar08
- "Clinton Adds a Half Delegate." Associated Press, February 27, 2008.
- "Superdelegates Are Flocking to Obama." Associated Press, February 23, 2008.
- "Obama Wins Democrats Abroad Primary." Associated Press, February 21, 2008.
- "The Expat Vote." Newsweek, January 30, 2008
- "Gov. Dean on YouTube Video." Gov. Howard Dean Urges Democrats Overseas to Vote in the Global Primary: January 28, 2008
- "Americans Abroad Participate in Republican, Democratic Politics." U.S. State Department Article: January 25, 2008
- "Americans abroad can now vote online." Associated Press: January 21, 2008
- "Democrats tout first 'global primary'." Christian Science Monitor: January 25, 2008.
- "Efforts increase to enfranchise U.S. citizens abroad." International Herald Tribune: November 28, 2007
- "Campaigns Look Overseas For Votes." Associated Press: May 17, 2004
- Campbell, Blake. "Democrats gathering 'to put US back on track'." The Standard: February 9, 2004.
- Cox, Christopher. "Some Dems go extra miles to beat Bush." Boston Herald: July 29, 2004.
- Higham, Will. "Don't get angry, get even." Progress: January/February 2004.
- LaBelle, G.G. "Americans around world play role in DNC." Associated Press: July 27, 2004.
- Nelson, Fraser. "Democratic battle coming to Scotland." The Scotsman: February 11, 2004.
Informational
- Associated Press profile of 2004 delegates. Includes names and country of residence.