This urgent message is for members who vote from Florida, Georgia or Arizona – Please take a moment to read on to ensure your vote was counted. It’ll take a few minutes of your time but it’s crucial to take action now or risk allowing the Republicans to take your vote away.

Over the past several election cycles, the votes received by Democrats Abroad voters has delivered the numerical difference to victory in one to two close races; e.g. MN, NY, CT, NV. This time it’s overseas voters from FL, GA and AZ who have the ability to truly play a role in victory – every vote does count!

The stakes are high and the numbers are close - if every vote is counted Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum, Bill Nelson and Kyrsten Sinema could see victory at the end.

The Democrats Abroad GOTV Team has put together crucial information to help you contact your voting county immediately to make sure your vote is being recognized and counted. If your ballot has not been counted or cannot be found, follow the following steps outlined below. The tight race in Arizona has not only highlighted the value of our votes from abroad, but also highlighted how much we need to do to help protect those votes and ensure they are counted.

In GA, FL and AZ, the GOP is actively working to avoid counting absentee ballots.

To help ensure that our votes are counted, we are working with state voter protection teams and have rolled out the following process to help you PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE..

1. We are sending emails to voters in each state with information walking them through checking on the status of their ballots.

2. If a ballot has not been counted, we are asking Florida and Georgia voters to fill out a form which we are sharing directly with the voter protection teams in their states. We are asking Arizona voters to get in touch with their local election offices immediately to ensure they have all the information they need to verify their ballots, and then to reach out to us if they have further problems.

Here is the information, by State:

Arizona
https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/posts/10160904477040005

Florida
https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/posts/10160904523715005

Georgia
https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/posts/10160905029765005

In Solidarity,

Bodil Geyer
GOTV Coordinator, Canada

It happened.

Every Jew who attends any Jewish activity experiences the worry that something like what happened at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last weekend could happen at any time. Hateful rhetoric and gun manufacturers have made it clear that these kinds of atrocities--hate crimes--can happen in the United States.

Extremists want to blame the Jewish people for bringing it upon themselves, but we know that is not true. The NRA and their accomplices on the Right in Congress, the Supreme Court and certain presidents have made sure that as MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell puts it, "the U.S. has the best armed mass murderers in the world.” 

And it’s more likely to happen in the atmosphere of racial resentment fostered by the current administration. Unfortunately, prejudice against people of color and Jews come hand in hand. As somebody who had to pass swastika painted walls on the way to Hebrew school in Philadelphia, I am grateful that at least here in Canada individuals harboring this kind of hatred and prejudice are unlikely to have an AR-15. 

However, our work to combat hate and racism and promote equity and equality is never done. We in Democrats Abroad are working to create an environment in which atrocities like the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh are less likely to happen. Thank you for all you are doing to support that mission. It is so important.

Ed Ungar
Co Vice Chair
Democrats Abroad Canada