Message from DA Spain Chair

I’ve read a lot of murder mysteries. A LOT. And my favorites are the cozy ones, where, even before you start the book, you know that everything will turn out all right. Of course, there’s always one chapter toward the end where the protagonist is cornered by the dastardly murderer. That’s the bit I read the fastest, because I just want to get to the happy ending and enjoy the part where the villain is no longer holding a dagger at the detective’s throat.

A different dagger is being held at the throat of our democracy, as President Biden recently reminded us, and the threat is not fictional. We see signs everywhere that our homeland could easily slip into autocracy, or worse. Voter suppression is rampant; lies about the integrity of our elections spread faster than Omicron; open calls for civil war are heard in public discourse and on social media. And sadly, we can’t simply read fast and skip to the part where everything turns out okay in the end.

That’s why we, overseas Democrats, must turn out in droves in the midterm elections. We have to register to vote, request ballots, and return those ballots in a timely fashion. We have to be the people who refuse to succumb to the second, more insidious Big Lie: that our votes won’t count, so there’s no point in voting in the first place. And we have to ensure that our American family members and friends do the same. This is the only sure way to defeat the threats to our democracy.

Look, I know that phone banking, staffing voter registration tables, and sending messages to US voters abroad may not be on your list of Top 10 Entertaining Things To Do in 2022. I’d rather be reading the aforementioned murder mysteries myself, but if we want our democracy to survive, we all have to pitch in. Please go to VoteFromAbroad.org for reliable information on how you can vote in the midterms. And click on our Volunteer Interest Form to find out how you can do your bit to help others vote. Finally, please share this information with your friends.

So while there is a dagger involved, this time there’s no mystery. Let’s get out there and fight for our country.

Kathy Tullos (Chair) 

Calls to Action

**********

If you voted in Florida's FL-20 special election on January 11, kudos to you! The election, the first of 2022, was won handily by Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. She will become the first Haitian-American to represent Florida in the House of Representatives. In now-standard GOP form, her Republican contender has refused to concede despite losing by nearly 60 points.

Texas voters, you’re up next! On March 1, your state will hold a Democratic Primary for U.S. representatives as well as for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state representatives, and state senators. The winners of these races will go up against the Republicans in the November 2022 General Election. If you have already sent in your Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), and if you checked the box to have your blank ballot sent to you by “Email/Online” or “Fax,” you should have received your ballot on or around January 15. If you haven’t yet sent in your FPCA, you must do so before February 18th in order to vote in the primary election. More information and the answers to all your questions available here.

**********

State Teams

If you vote in Ohio, your state team is having a kickoff call and information session on January 29th, at 4 PM CET. Guest speakers include representatives from the state association of election officials and the national Democratic redistricting committee. RSVP here.

**********

Help us get the word out! 

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, there were more than 40,000 US citizens living in Spain in 2020, and yet fewer than 6,000 of them are members of Democrats Abroad. While we DA members regularly receive the information we need to vote from abroad, our fellow Americans in Spain who are not in this organization may be unaware that they have the right to vote and may miss important deadlines. As you speak with other Americans you meet in the coming weeks or months, encourage them to visit our nonpartisan voter registration portal www.votefromabroad.org, where they can submit their Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) quickly and easily. Or share this QR code, which points directly to the user-friendly site.

Caucus News

Women’s Caucus

Time really does fly. Five years ago this month, millions of women in the US and around the world took to the streets and plazas to protest the election of a misogynist to the highest office in the land. Read DA Spain Women’s Caucus leader Doris Stanger’s musings on this anniversary here.

On February 9th, at 7:30 PM CET, DAS Women’s Caucus will be hosting another session of the extremely popular Living in Spain webinar series, this time addressing the topic of renters’ rights and buying property. For more information and to RSVP click on the link, RSVP here

Future webinars have also been confirmed, so mark your calendars: 

• March 9: Making a will, probate and inheritance
• April 6: Litigation in Spain
• May (date to be announced) US citizen tax obligations while living abroad 

**********

Environment and Climate Crisis Council (ECCC)

The Global Environment and Climate Crisis Council (ECCC) cordially invites you to their inaugural event today, Sunday, January 23 at 9:00 US Eastern Time /15:00 CET, featuring special guest Michelle Delgado Deatrick, founder and Chair of the DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council. RSVP here

**********

Lots of great caucus events are already on the calendar for 2022 – click here to see them all!

Chapter and Verse

Barcelona 

Our online meeting series, La Lucha Continúa, kicked off with a bang this month, as we had the distinct pleasure of hearing from Rachel Vindman (and briefly from her husband Alex as well). Rachel is an activist and plain-spoken political commentator who fights for justice and American democracy. She shared observations from her vantage point in the suburbs of Washington, DC and acknowledged that we, as Americans living abroad, have a unique perspective on the events unfolding back home. She enthusiastically encouraged all members to register to vote and to vote in every election — not just the “big” races at the top of the ballot. The problems with our democracy, she said, have been imposed from the top down – but the solutions must come from the bottom (that’s us!) up. 

**********

Our next meeting, which will be held January 25, at 20:00 CET, will be a virtual voter registration party. If you haven’t yet sent in your FPCA, we will walk you through the process. Have questions, doubts or concerns? Voter Registration expert Jim Mercereau will be on the call with all the answers. We will also have some fun – after all, this is a party! RSVP here. 

**********

The Barcelona Expat Fair, where we will hold an in-person voter registration event, has been rescheduled for March 5 due to rising Covid-19 numbers. For more information, click here. 

Madrid

DA Madrid is also getting ready to get out the vote! In an attempt to end 2021 on a good note, about 30 DA members and supporters went to The Toast Taproom Malasaña to enjoy drinks with friends.

The restaurant was generous enough to offer us a small donation with every pint or lemonade purchased, resulting in 21 more euros towards DA Spain's efforts! At the get-together, we talked about opportunities to volunteer with DA Spain. If you're interested in possibly doing so, send us a message to find out more.

**********

Phonebanking campaigns are among DA's most important activities. To prepare for the midterms, DA Madrid put together a "Back to Basics'' presentation. Due to the evolution of the Omicron variant, this event took place over Zoom. 

The two-part program discussed how, and how often, overseas voters should request their ballots before offering an in-depth phonebanking information session.

If you would like to learn more about volunteering as a phonebanker, don't hesitate to reach out!

Valencia

This month’s First Friday of the Month Coffee saw new DA Valencia members joining old hands to share stories and the history of the Valencia chapter. We had a nice turnout, considering the morning was the coldest of the season so far. In fact, we found it necessary to meet indoors. In warmer months, we look forward to gathering in the outdoor space of Taberna Antonio Manuel and hope to expand our group of regulars to welcoming more new faces. 

**********

On January 12, DAV held a Voter Support training class, led by Georgie Grossman, to equip a core group of volunteers with the necessary tools to carry out the types of Voter Support sessions that made us famous in 2020. The mix of old and new volunteers left the training armed with important information and tips for helping American expats participate in this year’s pivotal midterm election.

**********

Our first Voter Support session was held January 13 at our old haunt, Salad Planet, near the consular services office. We were happy to see folks who dropped by for assistance with the Vote From Abroad app and those who hung out to chat.

**********

Two more in-person Voter Support sessions have been scheduled as of the time of this writing, but only the second one will still be available to readers of this newsletter:

• January 21 — Jardin Urbano, Carrer de Pere III el Gran, 26 — 10:00-13:00 CET
• February 3 — Arrancapins, Calle Jesus 40, Door 4, floor 2 — 13:00-17:00 CET

We’ll also be available for primary support and, of course, again in September to help fellow Valencianos return their November ballots. Keep your eyes open for further details.

Alicante

Hello and Happy New Year from the Alicante team! It's been so good to get together in person and meet our fellow Democrats and allies at our November mix and mingle, as well as on the Alicante Christmas Lights Tour in December. 

The guided tour was our very first chapter fundraiser, and you helped us surpass our goal! Thank you for participating and for your donations! We raised enough money to reach another milestone — receiving matching funds from the national chapter of DA Spain. We also grew our membership over the past few months and are so happy that the larger community is hearing about our chapter. Our goal is to continue growing this year. At this stage, we’re in the process of planning how to best use our new budget for future events and voter outreach. More to come in 2022!  

Spain Fun Fact

It’s no secret that Spain is full of history and culture – but did you know that it has 49 UNESCO World Heritage Sites? These sites are dotted all over the country — from the Pyrenees mountain range in the north to the mosque-cathedral of Cordoba (shown below) and Granada’s world-famous Alhambra in the south. The full list is here. How many have you visited?

In Closing

To stay on top of all the news, follow Democrats Abroad Spain on social media. 

And please forward this email to your American friends in Spain who may not know us!

MAKE A SMALL DONATION

Donations to Democrats Abroad go directly to registering Americans and get out the vote (GOTV) activities such as phone banking, postcards, and most importantly, social media. Democrats Abroad is an incredible investment in our Democracy because it is 100% volunteer led and organized. Every euro or dollar you give supports our work to elect Democrats who will fight to make a better life for all Americans.