There are 158 days until the midterm elections. If you have not registered to vote or requested your ballot, now is the time. Go to Votefromabroad.org and do it today! If you are already registered, it doesn't hurt to check your registration at https://iwillvote.com/. This election is extremely important, don’t get disenfranchised by republican tricks. #VotingMatters
It looks and feels like we have quickly moved into summertime in Germany. We hope that everyone is staying cool, eating lots of ice cream, and able to still enjoy the sun (don’t forget your sunscreen)! To provide you with some cool thoughts, you can already start to think about fall and our 10th Annual Oktoberfest Extravaganza on Sunday, October 7th. If you sign-up before July 1st, tickets are only 65€ and this includes a reserved seat in the “Gallerie”, a half roasted chicken (vegetarian options are available), 2 liters of Spaten beer (there are other beverage options, too), and a 10-euro coupon for other purchases. Make sure you sign-up now because starting July 1st, tickets will go up to 75€.
June - Upcoming Election Information
California’s primary election on June 5 will be one of the most important –and bizarre - contests of the entire primary season. The Golden State is crucial to Democrats’ effort to retake the House and Republicans currently hold seven districts which Hillary Clinton won in 2016. With so many Democrats running, and because of the state’s “top two” open primary system, there is a risk that the vote will be split, allowing Republicans — who have fewer candidates — to dominate some primaries. Watch this video to learn more about the California primary system and the problem this year
If you are a California voter, make sure you have a choice in November and vote in the Primary on June 5th!
For more details about What is on the Primary Ballot for the June 12 State Primaries and June 19 and June 26 Primaries on the DA website Voting blog.
Highlighted Events in June
Caucus Corner
We have Germany representatives for all the DA Caucuses except the Hispanic Caucus. If you would be interested in becoming the Hispanic Caucus leader please contact us. Find out more about what our caucuses are doing.
Meet our new Black Caucus leader, Lori-Kaye Miller. The Germany black caucus will host its first event, a “Juneteenth Celebration BBQ” at her home on June 16th from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm . RSVP today. Read the Global Black Caucus’ statement on the new NFL Anthem Policy.
Our new DAG Women’s Caucus leader, Michelle Cummings-Koether, sent out an email a few weeks ago to introduce herself and to also let you know about the Global Women’s Caucus Event being held on September 22nd in Berlin. With the theme “refocus, revisit, resist and re-empower” the event will focus on the challenges that Women have faced over the last few years and the challenges they continue to face. It will also offer a chance to refocus for the challenges we continue to face, and help us to remain resilient and continue to resist. This event is designed to offer a space for DA Members Worldwide to exchange ideas, recharge and to show support for important Women’s issues facing Democrats in the upcoming election and beyond.
The Global Women’s Caucus launched their book club: Books Abroad: An International Feminist Reading Group. The selected text for the first meeting is Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which chronicles the coming of age of the American cartoonist author in rural Pennsylvania. The meeting will be held online using webex on Sunday, June 10, 2018 at 4pm. RSVP today to receive the connection information.
News and Noteworthy
The international Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA) annual global meeting took place 25-27 May in Tokyo. Thanks to the DA Japan committee for helping make this year’s meeting an experience our leaders will never forget and to the many DA Japan volunteers who not only smoothed our way but brought Japan into the meeting, through posters, flowers, food, kimonos and more. Our DA global teams gave their reports, and spent time sharing information about how each committee can get benefit from their work. Check out all the presentations on the DA wiki.
During the meeting, the following resolutions were passed: Honoring Stanley Grossman, ERA, RBT, and Trade in the DA platform (see the full resolutions here). The "Unity Reform Commission" resolution was referred back to the Resolutions committee for consideration at a later time, and the "Debt Relief" resolution failed. Tom Schmid and the Bylaws team will report shortly on the results of the bylaws amendments decisions.
Our DA taxation team has been working hard to bring congressional attention to the tax issues that affect Americans abroad. Democrats Abroad continues its work pushing the House Ways & Means Committee to exempt American business owners abroad from the “transition taxes” built into the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If you have any taxation questions or comments, please email the taxation team at: [email protected].
With only 158 days until the elections in November, DA Germany still needs to find as many Americans as possible and persuade them to vote. Advertising, making calls, paying local registration fees, and buying postage all require money. Please consider becoming a DAG Sustaining Member. DAG is a member-funded, 100% volunteer organization. With the 2018 midterms approaching, we are appreciative of all the financial support we receive. In 2016, we calculated that each euro spent resulted in 3 new members/voters, and in this year's midterms, every vote counts! Please consider making a donation to us, whether one time, monthly, or quarterly.
Account name: Democrats Abroad Germany
IBAN: DE04 5405 0220 0140 2702 99
BIC: MALADE51KLK
To make it a recurring donation, you can set up a Dauerauftrag. Let us know if you need assistance with this process — we’re glad to help! Thank you in advance for your support.
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Remember Democrats Abroad are the margin of victory. Your vote counts! Remind your family and friends to register and vote, too.
Thanks for reading.
Your DA GermanyTeam