Why use VoteFromAbroad.org to request your ballot?
Federal law provides special voting protections for U.S. citizens living overseas—but only if you submit the official federal ballot request. When you do, you receive:
- Your ballot by email (Check the “receive by email” box)
- Guaranteed ballot transmission at least 45 days before each federal election — critical if you must return your ballot by mail (22 states are mail-return only)
- Automatic ballot delivery for every election you’re eligible to vote in that year
- Protection against voter roll removal — your registration stays active that year
- Free ballot tracking, so you can confirm your ballot was received
- Access to an emergency write-in ballot if your ballot is delayed or doesn’t arrive
These protections are not automatic. They apply only when you submit the FEDERAL ballot request (as opposed to an absentee ballot from your local election official).
Go to VoteFromAbroad.org today!
Events happening in DA Austria in March —
Young Democrats: Young Americans Trivia Night
Sunday, March 8, 2026
7:30-10:00 p.m.
Charlie P’s Pub
Währinger Straße 3, 1090 Vienna
RSVP
American Comedy Night: This Still Ain’t No Joke
Friday, March 13, 2026
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show begins at 6:45
The Comedy Pub at the Black Sheep Vienna (basement venue)
Kettenbrückengasse 7, 1050 Vienna
Ticket Donation Required. Starting at 15 euros
RSVP
Democrats Abroad Austria Annual General Meeting
Sunday, March 15, 2026
2:00-5:00 p.m.
SPÖ Neubau
Lindengasse 64, 1070 Vienna
RSVP
Post-AGM Dinner Meet Up
Sunday, March 15, 2026
5:30-8:30 p.m.
Makom
Schottenfeldgasse 18, 1070 Vienna
RSVP
Progressive Pizza: It's Primary Time!
Thursday, March 19, 2026
6:00–8:00 p.m.
L'Osteria
Florianigasse 55, 1080, Vienna
RSVP
Salzburg Monthly Meet-up
Friday, March 20, 2026
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Krimpelstätter Restaurant,
Müllner Hauptstraße 31, Salzburg 5020
RSVP
Vorarlberg Meet-up
Friday, March 20, 2026
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Pizzeria San Remo
Hatlerstraße 7, 6850 Dornbirn
RSVP
Solidarity Sundays: Your Voice, Your Vote — Understanding Elections at Every Level
Sunday, March 22, 2026
4:00-6:00 p.m.
Amerlinghaus
Stiftgasse 8, 1070 Wien
RSVP
NO TYRANTS Demonstration
Saturday, March 28, 2026
4:00-5:30 p.m.
Karlsplatz in front of the Karlskirche, 1040 Vienna
(check our website for final date and time confirmation)
RSVP
DA Younger Americans Phonebanking Party
Sunday, March 29, 2026
5:00-8:00 p.m.
Private home (address provided with RSVP)
In this Newsletter —
Message from the Chair
Event Highlights:
- Still Ain’t No Joke — American Comedy Night
- No Tyrants Demonstration
Voting News:
- Upcoming Primaries
Inside DA Austria:
- DA Austria Making News
- 2026 Annual General Meeting
- DA-AT ByLaws Amendments
Issues and Actions:
- Veterans and Military Families March 2026 Newsletter
- Our votes are the margin of victory. Be counted. Submit your FPCA at votefromabroad.org today.
Review:
- Solidarity Sundays: Understanding ICE’s Structural Unaccountability
-
Cocktails and Court Filings: Solidarity Sundays’ Fundraiser for Groundwork Legal
Our next Executive Committee meeting will be on Thursday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Brett Carnito at [email protected] for the location.
DA Austria is committed to keeping you up to date while respecting your inbox. Our monthly newsletter brings together all the important information you need in one place, so you can stay informed without the extra emails. We appreciate you reading and staying connected!
Message from the Chair:
On Saturday morning we woke up to find that the United States of America and the state of Israel had attacked the Islamic Republic of Iran — yet another example of a lawless administration recklessly putting lives, global stability, and our democracy at risk. DA members in the region are sheltering, staying connected and, incredibly, still working to build their organizations and get out the vote. Let this be an inspiration to us as we work to put an end to this madness.
Event Highlights:
This Still Ain’t No Joke — American Comedy Night —
Friday the 13th of March, 6:30 p.m.
Sometimes the best response is to laugh — loudly, together, and without apology. In a moment when the news cycle feels like a punchline nobody asked for, Democrats Abroad Austria invites you to put down the doom-scrolling and find solidarity in laughter. Still Ain't No Joke is an evening of American comedy that doesn't pretend everything is fine — but finds the funny anyway. Because laughter isn't surrender. It's survival. It's how we remember we're not alone, catch our breath, and walk back out into the world ready to fight another day. Come for the jokes. Stay for the community.
NO TYRANTS Demonstration
On March 28 we gather again in protest— and we need you.
In solidarity with Indivisible's mass call to action, Democrats Abroad Austria will hold a demonstration in Vienna at 16:00 on Karlsplatz* (*still awaiting approval, so please check our website next week to confirm time and place).
We're looking for people with energy, ideas, and skills — especially in press, local outreach, and event planning. New voices are not just welcome, they're essential.
Ready to step up? Contact Hilary: [email protected]
— DA Austria Protest Action Committee
Voting News:
Upcoming Primaries
Its primary season and races will be taking place in both state gubernatorial and federal House and Senate races — 470 federal-level primary races in all — from March to June.
Of course every race is important, and you want to make sure you always receive your ballot for each election you’re eligible to vote for by going to votefromabroad.org and requesting your ballots for the entire calendar year.
However, the New York Times has highlighted some key Senate and Governor’s races in their 2026 Midterm Election Calendar to inspire and remind you that every vote counts.
Inside DA Austria:
In the News—
We’d like to congratulate DA Austria’s former Communications Chair and media contact, Sophie Spiegelberger, on her recently published article in the New Yorker (February 24, 2026) titled, The Russians Turning to Google Maps in Search of Missing Soldiers.
DA Austria member and entrepreneur Maggie Childs represented DA Austria in an invited panel discussion Falter Arena hosted by The Falter weekly newspaper at the Staadt Saal also on February 24. The Podium will appear Sunday, March 8 on FALTER Radio!
Credit: © FALTER/Roland Ferrigato
2026 Annual General Meeting
DA Austria’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in person and online on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 2 p.m. All DA Austria members are welcome to join the meeting. We especially hope to see many of our members who live outside of Vienna and may not normally attend the AGM! Any American 18 or older by the next federal election and residing in Austria may also join the meeting and vote.
At the meeting we'll present reports on 2025, discuss and vote on amendments to the DA Austria Bylaws (see below), and discuss get out the vote and outreach plans for the upcoming midterms.
DA Austria is required in our Bylaws to hold an AGM prior to March 31 of each year. We also have a quorum requirement to make the meeting valid.
Please help us meet these challenges by joining the AGM in person or online!
After we conclude our business, we invite you to stay for a volunteer fair — with wine and snacks — where you can learn about the many ways to get involved: our protest and action group, the planning committee for our U.S. 250th Anniversary July 4th Party, voter outreach, spring and fall voter registration tables, and phone banking. Whatever your interests or availability, there is a place for you in this community. If you want to get involved, but can’t make the AGM, please contact [email protected].
Your participation, activism, and donations have made DA Austria a strong and vital organization for more than twenty years. In 2026, we’ll continue working to strengthen the voice and vote of all our members.
Please RSVP for the meeting here.
DA Austria ByLaws Amendments
Why are we amending our bylaws?
During the 2025 DA Global Annual General Meeting, a number of amendments were adopted to simplify the way Country Committees (such as DA Austria) are able to elect and replace voting members of the global body formally known as the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA).
At our DA Austria Annual General Meeting on March 15, our members will have the opportunity to learn more about the amendments and the proposed changes to our bylaws and vote to adopt the current draft. The DA Austria Excom reviewed and adopted the proposed amendments for submission to the DA Austria bylaws at the January ExCom meeting on January 15, 2026. See the DAAT 2026 Update Comparison. They are also in a News Blog on the website for easy access.
Amendments to the Charter for a Vote by the Membership
during the 2026 Annual General Meeting:
—Jen Rakow-Stepper
DAAT 2026 Bylaws Committee Chair
Issues and Actions:
Vigil in Graz
DAA members in Graz have been invited to participate in a vigil organized by several Austrian individuals to express solidarity with the victims of ICE as well as with those who are resisting, as well as to take a clear stand against the resurgence of fascist tendencies in the US and for democracy around the globe. Please feel free to bring candles, flowers, and homemade protest signs. If you'd like to attend with other DAA members, please contact [email protected].
When: March 20, 5 pm
Where: Hauptplatz, Graz
Veterans and Military Families March 2026 Newsletter
If you are wanting to know about the VA trying to take away disability benefits and the cutting of the suicide prevention hot line, we can keep you informed of all things concerning veterans and their families. As a veteran I am not just concerned with issues that only affect veterans but active duty and their families as well. Please stand up and be heard.
If you would like to know more and be more involved, we meet once a month online globally. If you would like to sit in on our meeting, which is on the 14th of March, please contact me.
— George Bottorff, Veterans and Military Family Caucus Representative Austria,
Global Veterans of Military Family (VMF) Steering Committee member
Your VMF Representative for Austria has written several opinion pieces. This link is the one about the honoring of Alex Pretti.
Review:
Solidarity Sundays: Why ICE Is Built to Ignore You
February 15, 2026
At our February meet-up, Solidarity Sundays Vienna asked a pointed question: why can’t normal democratic pressure touch ICE?
The answer: ICE was deliberately built without three brakes that every other federal law enforcement agency has — independent judicial review, criminal due process, and local accountability. ICE reviews its own warrants. It uses criminal-style tactics (think zip-ties, assaults) under civil law rules — meaning no appointed lawyers, no juries, and illegally-obtained evidence still counts. And because it’s federal, local voters can’t fire it, defund it, or kick it out of their city.
This is no accident. After 9/11, immigration enforcement was split from immigration services — citizenship processing, green cards — into separate agencies. That left ICE as enforcement-only, with no internal voice asking “could we help this person comply instead?” Just arrests. Just deportations.
SolSunners decided to put their money where the leverage is: Groundwork Legal (groundworklegal.org), a Minnesota public interest law firm using litigation to challenge all three missing brakes. Our February 28 cocktail fundraiser — “Get ICE Off Our Streets & Into Our Drinks” — was the vehicle.
Education plus action. That’s the SolSun model.
Cocktails and Court Filings: Solidarity Sundays’ Fundraiser for Groundwork Legal
February 28, 2026
Twenty people. Four cocktails. One excellent Saturday night pooling money for deportation defense.
SolSun just proved you can fund serious legal work while learning to shake a proper Gimlet.
We’ve already raised €500+ for Groundwork Legal Defense — the Minneapolis org providing lawyers, bond money, and rapid response for families facing deportation. Since October alone, federal courts found ICE unlawfully detained people 4,400+ times. Ground Legal challenges those detentions. We’re funding that work.
But here’s what made Saturday night actually SolSun: We did it by rotating through four rooms learning bartending techniques from volunteers who’d watched YouTube videos the day before. Lower-alcohol versions so people remembered what they learned. Cocktail music that kept people swinging. Take-home recipe cards with full-strength instructions for when the authoritarianism gets really exhausting.
The “Happy Warrior” principle in action: Resistance that doesn’t burn you out. Community you actually want to show up for. Strategic joy, not strategic suffering.
The people who last are the ones who figure out how to keep their energy up while doing the work. That’s how you build movements that survive authoritarianism’s long game.
Court filings AND cocktails. Bond money AND bubbles. Concrete impact with flair.
Missed it? You missed the proof that activism doesn’t have to feel like penance. But donations are still open: groundworklegal.org (write “Solidarity Sundays Vienna” in dedication, “[email protected]” in recipient email so we track your support). Add to the pool.
Small money, pooled together, measurable impact. Plus properly shaken cocktails.
That’s the offer.
Lastly:
The Get Out the Vote Message
My name is George Bottorff. I am a military veteran living in Austria. I swore an oath to the very pillar of our nation, the Constitution of the United States. Because of my military service, I have been around the world and been to countries that disappear their citizens and their families sometimes will never know what has happened to them. I went into military service to help those who could not help themselves and to support the defense of our nation. My father and fellow veterans from my town fought in the World War II against fascism. Yet in America right now the Trump administration is moving quickly in this direction. These warehouses which they have been buying are not just for immigrants, they will start pulling American citizens in there as well. I have seen the cruelty of the countries that have these dictators and tyrants. Please do not let this become us.
Nelson Mandala once said it is easy to hate, but it takes work to love.
For the stranger at the door, do not send them away without a drink of water and talk to them because you might find out that they know how to help you with your problem.
So if you would like a better America, go to VoteFromAbroad.org and get registered to vote in your state.
Thanks for reading the March Newsletter!
Don’t forget to register to vote and request your ballot at votefromabroad.org today. The rules have changed and tightened for many states, and primaries have begun. Go to votefromabroad.org and make it happen. There are people on deck to help if needed.