Dear Democrats Abroad Members in Greece,

Democrats Abroad - Greece was suspended as a country committee in March of this year. All country committees of Democrats Abroad are subsumed under, and subject to, the regulations of the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA).  Prior to the March suspension, various issues began to undermine DA-Greece's compliance with DPCA guidelines.  The Democrats Abroad Executive Committee has determined that the best way to bring Greece back onto a strong footing is through a complete committee reorganization.

Reorganization of the Greek committee will require the approval of new bylaws governing committee activities, as well as the election of new country officers.  Greece has the potential to be one of our most vibrant committees, and I look forward to working with you all to help meet that goal.  As the recently elected Regional Vice Chair for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), I am working to organize the steps necessary to revive DA-Greece along with the following parties:

- The DPCA Excom:
International Chair, International Vice Chair, International Treasurer, International Counsel, Regional Vice Chairs from Asia-Pacific and Americas Regions, (www.democratsabroad.org)
- Reorganization Coordinator, Dr. Elina Mihalaki in Greece
- DPCA Executive Director, Lindsey Reynolds in Washington, DC
- DPCA Legal Counsel, Anthony Sistilli

Elina Mihalaki of Athens is the on-the-ground point person for the reorganization process.  Elina has come to us based on the strong recommendation of the Obama team. She was responsible for Americans Abroad in Greece during the campaign. We are pleased to be able to rely on her in this role and are confident that she will be able to act as a conduit between the interests of Democrats in Greece and those of the DPCA.

In order to update you on the process and to lay out the proposed schedule for re-instatement of the Greek committee, I have included the following information:

A Nominations Committee made up of DA members living in Greece is currently being created to collect and vet officer candidate statements for the re-organization election. We are presently aiming for an election and Annual General Meeting (AGM) to take place by mid-September 2009.  Officers to be elected will include Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Counsel and a number of At-Large Excom members.

If you have questions regarding the Nominations Committee, would like to volunteer to be a member, are considering being a candidate for office or have further questions, please contact Elina at greece@democratsabroad.org by June 25th.

You will be receiving additional notices regarding the Nominations Committee and Candidate Statements in the next weeks.  All future communications will be sent exclusively through the Democrats Abroad data base of members residing in Greece.

We encourage the open consideration of candidates and your help in assuring expanded participation in the Election and Annual General Meeting at which new bylaws will be approved and country officers elected.

Rules governing the election process include:

- creation of the Nominations Committee - 60 days prior to AGM/election date  (Target date: July 1)

- candidates nominated by committee and based on candidate statements will be reported to the membership 30 days prior to election date (Target date: August 1)

- any member not nominated who wishes to run must declare intent to run no later than 14 days prior to election (Election/AGM  Target date: mid-September)

- ballots sent no earlier than 13 days and no later than 10 days prior to election.

- committee formally voted into membership by the DPCA, after election and bylaws approval (as soon as possible after the AGM, Estimate: October 1)


We understand that there may be more than one email account reaching Democrats Abroad in Greece. If you are getting this message with the DA logo on the top, you have already joined DA and do not need to rejoin. If you wish to update your membership information, you need to login.  If you have forgotten your password, please request a new one through the site.

If you are receiving this message through an email from another account and you are a US citizen living in Greece, you must join DA via www.democratsabroad.org (click onto the red ‘Join Now' button to add or revise your membership information) and be accessible through our membership database.  Only DA members living in Greece will be able to participate in the upcoming election.

We are committed to reviving DA-Greece status to its full and active capacity.  We are reaching out to all members and American Democrats living in Greece in order to insure an open and inclusive election process.  Greece's large and thriving American expat community is an important one and we are committed to getting it back up and running in plenty of time to play an important role in the 2010 Mid-term campaign.

I encourage you to contact Elina or myself if you have any questions or require any clarification to this message.


Best Regards,

Susan Haug
RVC-EMEA@democratsabroad.org