Democrats Abroad are in Chicago this week to join leaders and representatives from across the Democratic Party at the 2018 Summer DNC meetings.
The Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) and Association of State Democratic Executive Directors (ASDED) kicked things off on Wednesday with an all day meeting of Democratic Party leaders from each state — including Democrats Abroad of course!
DNC Member Orlando Vidal represented the organization in the morning. Between sessions including the DNC Disability Council, Voter Protection, Best Practices Institute, Vidal made sure that attendees knew that Democrats Abroad were hard at work helping voters abroad vote in every state!
With the continued risk of voter disenfranchisement, voter protection is an important topic for all state parties. The DNC has pooled resources for states and campaigns, ranging from voter protection trainings and hotlines to toolkits and a network of volunteer-run voter protection council across the country.
International Chair Julia Bryan joined for the afternoon ASDC/ASDED general meeting. Attendees heard rousing speeches from DNC Chair Tom Perez, ASDC President and DNC Vice Chair Ken Martin, and DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake [we last saw Ken and Michael at the Democrats Abroad AGM in Japan!].
Much of the conversation revolved around data — data security, data sharing and how best to optimize the rich data sets that states have, in order to best reach out to their voters and help candidates do the same.
ASDC members also discussed the upcoming meetings in the days ahead, particularly the vote on a rules change, which would limit the power of superdelegates, starting at the 2020 convention. The intent is to “return power to grassroots” and ensure primary voters see they are fully represented in selecting the party’s presidential nominees.
Julia Bryan said, “It was not a big focus of the ASDC general meetings, but DNC leaders are still discussing the issue with those who are undecided or who still have questions about the impact this will have on their state. The majority of state party leaders have signed on, including Democrats Abroad, and we're hoping more will sign on between now and the vote on Saturday."
Democrats Abroad attendees are spending lots of time with our fellow state leaders and have heard from many that they are eager and willing to work with us to get out the vote abroad for their states. The tight elections that have dominated headlines this year have really brought home how important absentee votes are for each and every state and each and every race. Democrats Abroad is ready to help bring home wins across the country and power the blue wave!