Hope took wing when Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 presidential vote. Relief, perhaps, better describes what we felt when the House and Senate were finally able to complete their work this week and declare him well and truly elected.

The challenging task of righting the ship of state and pulling the country back together again lies ahead. In this spirit, DAGR is sending him our ‘Prayer’ for his work.

‘Prayer,’ the moderately sized and eminently shippable painting, was donated by Katerina Zafirakis-Papadea, who presented another of her works to President Obama during his 2016 visit here. Older members will remember Katerina’s late husband, Kostas Zafirakis, one of the founding members of DAGR and one of its most devoted supporters.

In accordance with DAGR Bylaws, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held each year in the first quarter (by 31 March) but in an election year the deadline is January 31^st.  In the odd-numbered years, DAGR elects officers for the coming 2-year term.

This year’s AGM and Election is scheduled online through ZOOM on Wednesday, January 20^th, 2021, 6pm. RSVP here

ELECTIONS

Elections will be conducted by google form from Friday, January 8, 2021, 9am until Wednesday, January 20^th, 2021, 4pm.  Members will receive ballots processing instructions on Friday, January 8^th. 

DEMOCRATS ABROAD GREECE – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) & ELECTIONS

Agenda:

6pm to 6:10pm         Connect online via ZOOM platform

6:10pm to 6:45pm     Short business meeting and Committee presentations

Minutes of 2020 AGM

Treasurer’s Report

Chair’s Report

Committee Reports

Elections                      NEC announces and certifies results of election

6:45pm                       Live streaming of the 59^th US Presidential Inauguration

THE NOMINATIONS AND VOTING PROCESS

The Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) was appointed by the Chair and approved by Excom, on December 3, 2020. The NEC solicited nominations, collected candidate statements, will send out ballots, conduct the Election Meeting and tally the ballots.

Nominations are now closed; the deadline for candidacy submission was December 21, 2020. However, the ballot will allow for a write in candidate. The complete ballot will be sent out Friday, January 8^th, 12 days before the AGM. Members will have until 4pm on Wednesday, January 20^th to submit their ballot.

Full instructions for marking and returning ballots will accompany the ballot link on January 8^th.

To vote, each person must be a member of Dems Abroad when their ballot is submitted. Democratic Party rules require all elections to be open to inspection by members so, for verification, ballots must be signed by the member/voter.

Detailed regulations can be found in the DAGR Bylaws and in the DPCA Country Committee Election Procedures. Both documents can be read on the Dems Abroad wiki at https://wiki.democratsabroad.orgdisplay/home/

The list of nominated candidates and their personal statements are below.

2021 Nominations

Chair:                                                           Stacey Harris-Papaioannou (incumbent)     

Vice Chair:                                                Theodore Milonas    

Secretary:                                                 Karen Lee     

Treasurer:                                                 Nick Loisos (incumbent)     

Counsel:                                                    John Brady Kiesling 

At-Large:                                                   Sarajane Kidd Leone

At-Large:                                                   Rebecca Lieb

ONLY ATHENS VOTERS

Athens Chapter Chair:                                   Marion A. Kavallieros     

Athens Chapter Representative:            Richard L. Jackson

   Peter Vamvakas

ONLY THESSALONIKI VOTERS

Thessaloniki Chapter Chair:                           Randall Warner

Thessaloniki Chapter Representative:     Peter Baiter 

Questions or concerns should be addressed to the Nominations Chair, Nikki Fellouris at electionsdagr@gmail.com/ 693 661 8493

The Nominations and Elections Committee:
Nikki Fellouris, Chair
Anna Haughton
Daniel Roberts

2021 DAGR Executive Committee Nominated Candidates

   Chair: Stacey Harris-Papaioannou (incumbent) 

I have been a resident of Greece for 37 years. I was raised in suburban Chicago but now am a Florida voter, as my second home was always the sunshine state. A registered Democrat and regular absentee voter, I became more passionate in 2000 thanks to a pivotal loss and the beginning of my hateful relationship for the Electoral College. Since then, I relentlessly communicate with expats, particularly in Greece but around the globe about how to get registered, to exercise their rights as US voters. I began writing articles for DAGR’s now defunct monthly newsletter and have followed up since by assisting with communications. I served as one of the administrators on DAGR’s social media as well as preparing articles and serving as Media Liaison for DAGR. I regularly attended EXCOM web meetings for the last several years, in order to promote events and assist the EXCOM team wherever I can be useful. I have served as Country Chair since November 2019. In the past 14 months, I have accrued experience and a skills set to expand DAGR’s reach with other overseas Americans in Greece, focused on finances by insisting on a fiscally able organization and offering outreach with programming to our members during the pandemic that has been both safe and engaging.  And although I am based in Mykonos, when we could travel freely, I found myself in Athens almost every fortnight. With the onset of the pandemic we have learned, thanks to online forums and tools, that our physical proximity is neither a barrier nor a border, in participating actively in an organization. 

After 4 years of watching rule of law and democracy come under attack, by the very people who swore an oath to protect and uphold it, my priority is preserving liberty and justice in the US, so it permeates across the globe.  As Democrats it is our responsibility to be engaged influencers by being informed voters.

   Vice Chair: Theodore Milonas   

My name is Theodore Milonas and my voting state is Massachusetts. During the last term, I served in the position of Athens Chapter Chair, DAGR. Through these turbulent times, great effort was placed to ensure Greek Americans living in Greece do vote in the 2020 elections, making a difference. We are celebrating a great win! I am now candidating for the position of Vice Chair, DAGR, aiming to work collaboratively with the Chair of DAGR, the ExCom and our volunteers in strengthening our local community, as only through united and collaborative action we can have a positive impact on both USA political developments and our community here in Greece.

Regarding my professional background, I am an economist who returned to Greece in 2018 after five year of working and studying abroad (in Switzerland, UK and Hong Kong). For each step of the way, you can check my LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodoremilonas/.

Regarding my early DAGR steps, I joined DA Greece in 2013, right after my involvement in the Obama 2012 re-election campaign, when I moved to Lynchburg to help in winning the Presidential and Senate race for the State of Virginia. My role as a Deputy Field Organizer was to recruit, train and lead a team of circa 30 volunteers in a door-to-door and phone calling campaign, primarily in African American neighborhoods, to ensure that all Democrat voters are a) informed about the upcoming elections and b) that they do actually go and vote. The critical drive for me in actively supporting the campaign was to help all citizens in the USA to have access to proper healthcare irrespective of their work and insurance status.