In September's Newsletter —

Message from the DA Austria Chair

Events:

• Postcard Writing Party
• Voter Registration Tables in Graz, Salzburg, and Vienna
• Register Together – Voter Registration Day of Action
• Experienced Dems Meet-up
• Lady Day Theater FunRaiser
• Young Dems Pub Night
• September 24 Ballot Day Rally “Delivering Democracy”
• Election Night – TBA
• DAATalks about the Midterm Message – TBA
• Thanksgiving Celebration on November 24

10 Actions to Take Now!

Issues & Actions:

• Progress to Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision
• Dems Deliver
• Help Make November a Roe Wave
• Alma Mater Writing Campaign

Midterm Election News:

• Upcoming Primary Dates
• Vote from Austria! – Voter Information Guide
• We Need Your Help!
• Be the Margin of Victory

Democrats Abroad In the News:

• Thanks for the Tweet Nancy!

Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. Our next meeting will be held in person and online on: Wednesday, September 14, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Richard at [email protected] to join.

DAA is making a strong effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!

Message from the Chair

Dems Deliver! The recent passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act shows that (after long delays) we can make progress to curb inflation, lower prescription drug prices, and promote clean energy (see Ted France’s column below). We can only continue to make progress on these issues if we control Congress! We are nearly two months away from the midterm elections. We at Democrats Abroad Austria—and other Democrats Abroad country committees—are working hard to mobilize the overseas vote. Phonebankers are calling tens of thousands of DA members who vote in battleground states and social media campaigns have been launched. Meanwhile, postcards are being sent out to many of you in Austria as a final reminder: please go to votefromabroad.org and request your ballot and urge others in your circle to do the same. If you want to get involved in our final push to get out the vote, please contact me at [email protected].

-Richard

Chair, Democrats Abroad Austria

Events:

Postcard Writing Party!

When: Thursday, September 8

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Where: Private home. RSVP for details

What: We will be sending postcards to members living in Austria, and we’re gathering for pizza and drinks to customize the cards. If you can spare a few hours, please join us. Go to our signup genius link to RSVP. We’ll be in touch with more details.

Link: RSVP for details

Voter Registration Table in Graz

When: Friday, September 9

Time: 4:00 -11:00 pm

Where: Herzl Weinstube, Prokopigasse 12, 8010 Graz

Link: RSVP here

Register Together in Salzburg – Voter Registration Day of Action

When: September 17

Time: 5:00 - 7:00pm

Where: TBD, Müllner Hauptstraße, 5020 Salzburg

Link: RSVP here

Register Together in Vienna – Voter Registration Day of Action

When: September 17

Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm

Where: Mark's Bagels, Führichgasse 1, 1010 Vienna

Link: RSVP here

Experienced Dems Meet-up

When: September 20

Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Where: Café Museum, Operngasse 1, 1010 Vienna

Link: RSVP here

Lady Day Theater FunRaiser

When: September 21 (new date!)

Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm

Where: Theater Drachengasse,Fleischmarkt 22, 1010 Vienna

Link: RSVP here

Young Dems Pub Night

When: September 22

Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm

Where: Trattoria Officina, Neumanngasse 4, 1040 Vienna

Lunk: RSVP here

Coming Up – details to be updated at democratsabroad.org/at_events

September 24 Ballot Day Rally “Delivering Democracy” — Join DA members and activists around the world for top-name speakers and candidates from critical swing states. Details to be announced! #DeliverDemocracy

Election Night – TBA

DAATalks about the Midterm Message – TBA

Thanksgiving Celebration on November 24

10 Actions to Take NOW to elect Dems on Nov 8th!

#1 - request your ballot at Vote From Abroad (VFA)

#2 - add VFA to your email signature

#3 - share VFA & voting info on social media

#4 - send an alma mater letter

#5 - phonebank with Dems Abroad

#6 - get trained to help voters (on Intercom)

#7 - join a State Team, as a voter or ally

#8 - adopt a campaign (see list) & push on social media

#9 - help 3 people get ballots & get them to help 3 more

#10 – donate to get out the overseas vote

Issues & Actions:

Progress to Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision

Democrats Abroad is encouraged by the advancement of the Social Security Fairness Act which would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). WEP has unfairly and disproportionately impacted Americans abroad, particularly seniors who paid into Social Security and deserve to receive a fair amount in retirement. Some beneficiaries only learn of WEP after they have retired, and the reduced benefits substantially affect their financial standing in later years.

Read Democrats Abroad full statement on WEP repeal news here.

You can find out more information about what Democrats Abroad is doing and how you can help repeal WEP from these resources:

• Write and call your members of Congress to ask them to help repeal WEP: https://www.democratsabroad.org/contact_your_congressional_representative_about_the_repealing_of_wep
• Click here to sign up for the Seniors Caucus mailing list to stay in the loop on repealing WEP: https://www.democratsabroad.org/gsc
• Read the WEP FAQ: https://www.democratsabroad.org/wep_faq
• Volunteer for the Seniors Caucus to help us repeal WEP sooner: https://www.democratsabroad.org/gsc-volunteer

Dems Deliver!

The proverbial race most often goes to the swift. But sometimes, as Aesop reminds us, the race goes to the slow but steady. Thus, we Democrats and Americans abroad can finally heave a sigh of relief after months of slow and painstaking negotiations, which have resulted in the passage and accomplishment of major legislative goals. Persistence pays.

READ MORE

Help Make November a Roe Wave!

The Supreme Court’s erosion of abortion protections with the Dobbs ruling has caused a backlash and turned what looked like would be a red wave in November into a possible Roe wave.

Woman from Kansas to New York to Louisiana are registering to vote in record-breaking numbers* (NYT Tom Bonier, 9.3.2022). Mr Bonier writes, “As for many Americans, confronting the loss of abortion rights was different from anticipating it. …Women are engaged politically in a way that lacks any known precedent.”

Be a part of it! Make sure every woman you know—whether they’re in Austria or in the States, your daughter or your grandmother—casts their ballot in November’s election. Send them to votefromabroad.org or, if they’re in the U.S., to votesaveamerica.com.

Bonier continues, “Whether the coming elections will be viewed as a red wave, a Roe wave or something in between will be decided by the actions of millions of Americans — especially, it seems, American women.”

At Democrats Abroad we know our votes are critical in swinging elections — ladies, let’s show how it’s done.

Join the online webinar The Fall of Roe on September 13.

Photograph courtesy of Christine Benally Peranteau

Alma Mater Writing Campaign

Democrats Abroad invites YOU to participate in an alumni outreach campaign to help encourage democratic participation by students studying abroad during the Fall 2022 semester. Our goal is to have members reach out to their alma mater(s) and make sure they’re providing accurate and current information about registering to vote to students while they're abroad.

All details and templates can be found at https://www.democratsabroad.org/almamater.

Midterm Election News:

Upcoming Primary Dates

Massachusetts primary - September 6

Delaware | New Hampshire | Rhode Island primaries - September 13

Vote from Austria! – Voter Information Guide

Democrats Abroad has created a one stop spot for answering your voting questions. Please share this guide with friends and colleagues who may have questions.

Check it out here!

Key Senate and Congressional Races

There are nine races deemed “highly competitive” by the Cook Report and others. With a net gain of two Senators (= victory in six of these nine contests), Dems take real control of the Senate.

Share these candidates’ websites on social media! Far and wide! Several of them will be joining us on September 24, Ballot Day!

Find out more about about key races here: Battleground State Voting Information Pages and State Team Pages.

READ MORE

We Need Your Help!

Thanks to your help phonebanking, registering people to vote, and writing postcards in 2020, we not only elected Democratic majorities to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, but we took back the White House.

The next 70 days will have a lasting impact on our country. Do your part to get out the vote in 2022! Come help out at an upcoming voter registration table, study abroad event, or postcard writing party. Or call members to remind them to request their ballot.

If you can’t give us your time this election cycle, please consider making a donation instead at www.democratsabroad.org/donate. Every dime helps us reach more overseas voters. $20.22 will help keep Congress blue!

Be the Margin of Victory

In 2020, Democrats Abroad volunteers like you came together to defend American democracy. The truth is that if U.S. voters abroad hadn’t shown up in 2020, we would be looking at a very different political landscape in the United States: one guided solely by authoritarianism, hate, and one’s own personal benefit. But overseas votes were the margin of victory in many close elections and secured Biden and Harris’s wins in Arizona AND Georgia!

2022 is just as important. November’s midterm elections will determine the fate of countless issues that cannot wait, from our climate to reproductive rights to racial justice. And with more and more races being won by the slimmest of margins, the ballots coming in from U.S. voters abroad are certain to be decisive again this November.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election this November. That means every overseas voter has at least one important race to vote in! Get your absentee ballot today at www.votefromabroad.org.

The time to request your ballot is now! Don’t wait.

Democrats Abroad In the News:

Thanks for the Tweet Nancy!

Congrats to the Global Twitter team for getting Nancy Pelosi to shout us out! Continue to share!

Thank you for reading the September Newsletter! Please share with your networks. Don't forget as an overseas voter you need to request your ballot in every election year!

Go to VoteFromAbroad now!

The proverbial race most often goes to the swift. But sometimes, as Aesop reminds us, the race goes to the slow but steady. Thus, we Democrats and Americans abroad can finally heave a sigh of relief after months of slow and painstaking negotiations, which have resulted in the passage and accomplishment of major legislative goals. Persistence pays.