US Embassy in Athens showed support in 2021 (photo) and does still. February is Black History Month!

Dems Abroad Executive Director Visits Greece
Report compiled by DAGR Chair Brady Kiesling and Thessaloniki Chapter Chair Randall Warner

Dems Abroad Executive Director Jarryd Rauch fulfilled two goals in one January visit to Greece. Based in the US – home in NY, work in Washington, DC, Rauch is tasked with connecting DA, its three regions, 50-plus country committees, and caucuses, with the DNC (Democratic National Committee). High on his list is getting to know, in person if possible, leadership around the world. He landed here in Thessaloniki on Jan. 17, then travelled down to Athens for DAGR’s annual general meeting and election of 2023-24 officers.

Election of officers for the coming two-year term was the principal order of business for the Democrats Abroad Greece 2023 Annual General Meeting on January 18. Members attended the main meeting at Athens Hard Rock Café, while Thessaloniki gathered in homier surroundings, and others attended online.

As DAGR membership tops 1300 US citizens in Greece, we cannot know everybody. So below are profiles of the candidates who have volunteered to serve for the 2023-2024 Executive Committee. Candidates were asked to provide a photo, a brief biography as well as a statement about serving.

• To see the duties of each position, you can follow the link here.
• To meet our candidates, read on. 

Elections will run electronically, from Monday, January 9, 2023 at 9 am until Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 12 noon. A ballot link will be sent by email to all DAGR members.

If you do not receive a link to the electronic ballot on Jan. 9, please contact Nominations and Elections Committee chair Stacey Harris-Papaioannou at [email protected] or by calling 6942 940 720.

There’s more to DAGR than may meet the eye. We’ll be featuring the members who keep things running, in the hopes more of us will want to help out. We’re starting with GOTV (Get Out The Vote … which in DAGR is also part of the Membership task.)

“Play it where it lays” is bad grammar but a fitting phrase to dive into Charity Moschopoulos’ roles as a DAGR volunteer. Her trajectory of the last 15 years spans responsibilities, some easier, some harder. Charity’s Girl Scout mom experience led to “the red hat” for visibility when she led the Greeting/Guiding team for the 2009 Obama Inaugural at ACS. That was before she gave one to the DAGR chair for the 2015 July-4^th picnic, and long before that grifter guy stole the idea and printed MAGA on a gazillion.

Annual General Assembly and Elections
Wednesday, January 18 at 7 pm
Online via the ZOOM platform
AND
in-person at Athens Hard Rock Café

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 for Wednesday, January 18 at 7 pm (19:00) at Hard Rock Café Athens AND online through ZOOM

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 for Wednesday, January 18 at 7 pm (19:00) at Hard Rock Café Athens AND online through ZOOM

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 for Wednesday, January 18 at 7 pm (19:00) at Hard Rock Café Athens AND online through ZOOM

Voters wait to feed their ballots into an optical scanning machine

1984 or so, Fisherman’s Wharf in Columbus, Greek Nite. Joining us every month or so was the executive team from Borden’s: Al, Peter, and Tash. Peter, who had been on the team that developed Elmer’s glue, had Cefalonian roots. Tash had a penchant for club singing and was actually quite good at the mic. And then there was the old sage, Al. Some current panic over nuclear war or enviro disaster was in the air, and Al said, wisely, peppering it with examples from the Dark Ages and before, that mankind had always confronted plagues and disasters that were sure to wipe out the human race. And yet, we’d always overcome them when science and logic kicked in. I look back on his assurance with hope. ~KL

If democracy succeeds on mutual trust, then planting seeds of doubt is the first step at brushing that pesky people’s choice aside. And, there are a lot of seeds being planted this year. It bears a closer look.

Here's how ...

If you're a U.S. citizen or dual-national in Greece, you have the right to vote from abroad in the 2022 midterm elections and every election. If you are or will be 18 on Nov 8, 2022, you can vote in the upcoming elections.

Εάν είστε πολίτης των ΗΠΑ ή διπλή υπήκοος στην Ελλάδα, έχετε το δικαίωμα να ψηφίσετε από το εξωτερικό στις ενδιάμεσες εκλογές του 2022 και σε κάθε εκλογή. Εάν είστε ή θα είστε 18 ετών στις 8 Νοεμβρίου 2022, μπορείτε να ψηφίσετε στις επερχόμενες εκλογές.

As a U.S. citizen, you can register to vote from abroad while living, working, or traveling overseas by submitting one form, the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). It doesn't matter if you were registered to vote before you left the U.S. or how long you have lived outside the U.S. (including if you've never resided there).

Ως πολίτης των ΗΠΑ, μπορείτε να εγγραφείτε για να ψηφίσετε από το εξωτερικό ενώ ζείτε, εργάζεστε ή ταξιδεύετε στο εξωτερικό υποβάλλοντας ένα έντυπο, την Αίτηση Ομοσπονδιακής Ταχυδρομικής Κάρτας (FPCA). Δεν έχει σημασία αν είχατε εγγραφεί για να ψηφίσετε πριν φύγετε από τις Η.Π.Α. ή πόσο καιρό έχετε ζήσει εκτός των Η.Π.Α. (συμπεριλαμβανομένου του αν δεν έχετε διαμείνει ποτέ εκεί).
ΔΕΝ ΓΙΝΕΤΑΙ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΚΗ ΨΗΦΟΦΟΡΙΑ στην Ελλάδα στην Πρεσβεία ή στο Προξενείο για τις εκλογές του Νοεμβρίου 2022! Κάντε κύλιση προς τα κάτω για να βρείτε τις οδηγίες στην Eλληνική γλώσσα.
 

Into the Deep Muddy: The making of a Facebook daily-change graphic

It was a hot, humid night in July, 2018. The midterms were looming and DA global was looking for ways to excite the abroad members. The regional EMEA meeting murmured that a countdown graphic of some sort would help build the buzz.