News - Democrats Abroad

Democrats Abroad Guatemala Policy Retreat: Saturday, January 20, 2018

The Democrats Abroad Guatemala policy retreat scheduled for Saturday, January 20, 2018 will soon be here.

All we need is commitment from you to attend and support the event. If you have already responded we thank you, but if not, we ask you to read on and make a commitment to attend.

The policy retreat is the perfect venue to share your thoughts and views on policy issues being affected and changed by the Trump administration.

The retreat will be held at Casa de Retiros Posada Belén, Calle del Hermano Pedro Plazuela Belén, from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Lunch will be provided on the premises prepared by Hermanas Bethalmitas for Q85 per person, (if you choose to have lunch off-premises the suggested contribution for the event is Q75).

The following issues have been identified for the day’s agenda: Tax Cuts and the US Economy; Women’s Issues; Achieving Universal Health Care; The Democratic Party – How to Win Elections in 2018 and Beyond; Immigration Reform; Russia and US Elections; Key 2018 House and Senate Races.

A presenter will introduce each topic using slides or a short detailed talk of five to 10 minutes, followed by open discussion for 45 minutes to an hour, closing with a summary statement that best captures the sentiment of the open discussion, before moving onto the next topic.

Closing statements on each topic will be used in messaging our Get Out The Vote campaign for the 2018 midterm elections. Your input is important, so please consider participating in this important one-time event.

Respond to Kee Kalwara, at keekalwara@gmail.com that you will attend and if you will be joining us for lunch (we need an accurate count ahead of time). And direct any other questions to Kee as well.

Thank you.

The Executive Committee Democrats Abroad Guatemala DA Guatemala

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posted by |
January 12, 2018

From Julia Bryan:

Many thanks to all the country committees hosting March to the Ballot Box events over the weekend of January 20th. There’s a tremendous variety of events planned, all mixed with voter registration.

Please be sure to post your pics on Facebook and use #marchtotheballotbox and #votefromabroad so that we can find your posts. One event is even going global!

Larry Cohen from Our Revolution, one of our favorite folk and a great Democrats Abroad advocate, will be speaking in Toronto on January 20th at 4pm DC time. Larry has kindly agreed to be broadcast live online and DA Toronto is generously organizing the broadcast. Please tune in to DA’s Facebook page for the live event, and definitely share the show far and wide.

The GOTV team is rolling out primary and special election emails this week. Your Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin voters will shortly be hearing from us with details about what they need to do to vote in these elections. As mentioned last week, local reminder emails are highly effective. Please encourage all your members to get their ballot requests in now so that they can vote in state primaries. Every state except Louisiana will be holding a primary this year.

And if you haven’t yet, there’s no better way to brush up your votefromabroad.org skills than by testing it out yourself for this year. Why not send in your ballot request this week? Once you do, please share the news on Facebook - our VFA stats show a definite domino effect with social sharing. It’s country compliance season once again.

Int’l Secretary Jeffrey Cheng has built a handy compliance table for you to use to review your to dos, deadlines and status. He’ll be sending out an email with more details shortly. Our next ExCom meeting is today at 8am DC time. As always we'd be delighted to have you join as a guest. If you're interested, just get in touch with Jeffrey at secretary@democratsabroad.org and he'll send you the link to the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do!

Best, Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

Mark your calendars

Martin Luther King Jr Day – January 15th

March to the Ballot Box – January 20th - 21st

Membership Database Cleanup Deadline – January 31st

Membership Verification and Bylaws due – February 20th

Texas primary – March 6

Annual General Meeting – May 25 - 27th

2018 GOTV calendar: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LAk6AEtd0EKY68R2vXiouTCcn29vZrax0YslB_l70rg/edit

Fun Facts

49 states will hold primaries this year (LA holds runoffs)

455 Democratic challengers have registered with the FEC for US House races (only 111 Republican challengers have registered)

33 states have Senate races this year

50 states have House races

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posted by |
January 11, 2018

DAGT Direct Fund Raiser Campaign 2018

Dear Democrat,

I don’t think we need to mention how important the 2018 midterm elections are. All 435 House members are up for election and 33 Senate seats as well. Winning back the House and the Senate would mean control over a chaotic White House, and influence over public policy. To do our part, Democrats Abroad Guatemala (DAGT) is asking for your financial support. We want to maximize our efforts to Get Out the Vote (GOTV) in 2018. We need to advertise our monthly voter registration events in Revue and Que Pasa, and if we have enough resources, we will do social media ads on Facebook and Twitter to try and reach even more voters. This fund raiser campaign runs from January 20th to February 20th.

You can donate in cash or by check in person to one of the DAGT Executive Committee members (see the list below), or at one of two online choices: PayPal or Stripe.com.

Click on your preference below:

https://politics.raisethemoney.com/democrats-abroad-Guatemala

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=nSrulM5jppDAor2kl-qhds4vAuW6K1kwiW9Rq7H5DaT2bzh1APxg3wP1nDGAwD6L7xE2-W&country.x=US&locale.x=US

Contributions of $25 or more will earn a prize of either a 2018 Women’s Caucus calendar or a Lo Siento por El Imbécil cap.

Help us win back the House and the Senate.

Thank you,

Chair, John Chudy, mayadems@yahoo.com, 5783-3633

Vice Chair, Mary Lou Ridinger, marylouridinger@yahoo.com, (502) 7832-2756, (502) 5523-0340 (cell)

Secretary, Lyn Totino, allyntotino@gmail.com, (502) 7832-2619

Treasurer, Tom Totino, ttotino@gmail.com, (502) 5718-6153

Counsel: Letty Manne, lettyjane@gmail.com (502) 7832-8037

Member-at-Large: Annie Vanderboom, annie.vanderboom@gmail.com (502) 5702-6514

Member-at-Large: Dave Evans, devans@icronline.org (502) 5166-8829

Issues/Programs/Special Events/Social Standing Committee Chair: Kee Kalwara, keekalwara@gmail.com, (502) 4170-5537

Media Contact & Communications Standing Committee Chair: Mary Leigh Reynolds, maryreynolds85@gmail.com, 502 4204 6139

Guatemala City MeetUp Group Chair: Hyungjoon Jin, Hyungjoon.jin@interamericano.edu.gt, (502) 5584-1715

Lake Atitlán MeetUp Group Chair: Traci Styner, tracisd@gmail.com (502) 4198-7680

Occidente MeetUp Group Chair: Sara Castellano, sarafem@gmail.com (502) 5264 6400

San Marcos area. Occidente MeetUp Group Deputy Chair,

Rachael Shenyo, rshenyo@yahoo.com (502) 3087 3516, Quetzaltenango/Huehuetenango areas

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posted by |
January 11, 2018

Voter Registration: Dates and Locations

DAGT is hosting Voter Registration and updating the Federal Post Card Application for all oversees voters on the following dates in Antigua:

27 January 11:00am - 2:00pm

17 February11:00am - 2:00pm

10 March 11:00am - 2:00pm

The location is:

Enlaces 6 Avenida Norte #1 Antigua

This is a non-partisan registration. Additional dates in Guatemala City and Lake Atitlan are being planned.

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posted by |
January 10, 2018

Happy New Year from Julia Bryan!

Dear Democrat,

There are few things more thrilling for a voting advocate than rolling into an election year. Finally, we can help folk get registered and request their ballots. All the planning comes to fruition, our help desk queues fill up, we start pinging our friends and stopping strangers with American accents in the street.

The GOTV global email we sent out this week caught hold of that enthusiasm and many members responded by going to votefromabroad.org to request their ballots. Many others though didn’t open the email (global emails are like that). If you can, please send out a local GOTV New Years email to your membership with a similar message. Local emails have high open rates and your members will thank you. Me too.

The GOTV team is rolling out more GOTV training in phone banking and voter registration. Interested? Get in touch at gotv@democratsabroad.org. They are also sending out emails to members for special elections. Check out the 2018 GOTV calendar for more information (it’s linked at the end of this newsletter).

January’s a busy month in DA thanks also to the DA membership cleanup (the deadline is January 31st). Looking for a fast way to refresh your membership? Send all of your expired members to votefromabroad.org – anyone who uses it gets automatically updated. You win twice.

The Taxation team has just released their fantastic Taxation Team Year in Review. If you’re sending out a newsletter this month to your members, consider highlighting it. We’ve done many many things in the tax realm this last year and we should let our members know about how our fantastic team has fought for them. https://www.democratsabroad.org/ttf_year_in_review

Shari wants to let you know that the 126 women’s caucus calendars still remaining are now on sale at $5 a piece. Get in touch with her today about picking up yours.

Our next ExCom meeting is today at 8am DC time. As always we'd be delighted to have you join as a guest. If you're interested, just get in touch with Jeffrey Cheng at secretary@democratsabroad.org and he'll send you the link to the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do, and Happy 2018! Here's to taking back the House and the Senate this year!

Best, Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

Mark your calendars

March to the Ballot Box – January 20th - 21st, 2018

Membership Cleanup Deadline – January 31st, 2018

Texas primary – March 6, 2018

Annual General Meeting – May 25 - 27th, 2018

More 2018 GOTV Calendar dates: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LAk6AEtd0EKY68R2vXiouTCcn29vZrax0YslB_l70rg/edit

DAGT Note: A few calendars from the DAGT fundraiser are still available for $5. Keep in mind that comparing a $25 contribution to our fundraiser would be less expensive than having to pay the $30 transport fee from Germany to Guatemala and then dealing with local customs.

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posted by |
January 04, 2018

From the Chair's Office

Dear Fellow DNC Member,

We're excited to announce Dems For You, a new service-based initiative, and to ask you to join us in participating and leading this initiative, starting this holiday season.

The mission of the new Democratic National Committee is to elect Democrats from the school board to the Oval Office. As a party, we must focus on demonstrating to Americans our core values every day, all across the country in a visible, action-oriented manner. We can no longer be just a political organization asking for votes every two or four years; we have to get back to our origins as a grassroots organization, together, helping to address the issues and problems faced by all Americans. It’s our job as leaders to champion our party’s values. We know that no bumper sticker slogan is going to fix the mess our country is in. People will. In every community and every day.

To support these efforts, the DNC is launching a new service-based initiative called Dems For You. When a hurricane hits in Texas, Florida, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico; when wildfires ravage California or Colorado; when families need food, clothing, or toys during the holiday season; when young adults are looking for help on job interviews and crafting a resume; when families want to purchase their first home or need assistance signing up for a healthcare plan, the Democratic Party through Dems For You will be there to support all of our communities because Every ZIP Code Counts.

Today, we’re launching Dems For You, and we need your help in several ways over the coming weeks:

Organize a service event over the holiday season: support wildfire or hurricane victims, volunteer at a soup kitchen or food bank, organize a clothing drive, etc. Attend an event yourself, recruit elected officials you work with to attend or work with other democratic groups or allied organizations. Let us know what you’re doing, by entering your event here by Tuesday, December 19th.

https://my.democrats.org/page/event/create

Take action online:

Spread the word with #DemsForYou via social media or email about efforts to support hurricane or wildfire victims or other people in need in your community.

Share our Dems For You social media posts and graphics to encourage activists to get involved.

Send an email announcement to your list about Dems For You.

We know that many of you are already leading service events this December. Our goal is to help lift up that work to help you reach even more members of your community.

Any questions, ideas, feedback, reach out to Ryan Doyle DoyleR@dnc.org or Kalen Pruss PrussK@dnc.org

Thanks for everything you do,

Tom and Jaime

Tom Perez, Chair, Democratic National Committee

Jaime Harrison, Associate Chair and Senior Counselor, Democratic National Committee

You can find the toolkit here:

https://dnc.app.box.com/s/cjqnzun9zrzyyrm9jkkls1eanfbjbthc

and sample social media posts below:

FB: Graphic linked here: https://p14.zdusercontent.com/attachment/498562/ffUPdGaKMGw4RG66MSD4L1PRd?token=eyJhbGciOiJkaXIiLCJlbmMiOiJBMTI4Q0JDLUhTMjU2In0..qJ6xu2u-U-BH1hki8NyjHQ.Vt-JVjNHYs66X3923VZqs5DxLnsQXaS4Zg5ZZsQQoAxhldWop5oKm5l7BSXzCZmDaVxqmYXyKu0MjzGJGbpQIr7n3amnFuEYno0NiF5oLjdiQ1x47dBbACmW31n86GaSSTiymsIx87N9_w3HC5VPsQauFlqy3PExmPAQpGk1le4vZ39jvO2nG6vdemwdtmgeAhkn_XJ8jwN00JPhsAjptrQiJvIvv5Mo8ltRBVMV9qe3kipNm1udQspC9B0FPjNe8lUVoUJcREM5ajm1_Sevyw.G17CeiZ1dam7aRXhS7d2xw

Democrats are getting to work to give back and make our neighborhoods, towns, and cities a better place — in every community, every day. That’s why we’re asking you to join us in acts of service around our communities. Let us know you’re in, and tag a friend you’re bringing with you in the comments.

Democrats know that no bumper sticker slogan will fix the mess our country is in. That’s why we’re rolling up our sleeves to give back to our communities now and through 2018. Join us at [insert event] on [date]: [event link]

TW: Graphic linked here:

https://p14.zdusercontent.com/attachment/498562/ML11q4fahNFkZZ9W2PuAcxuMk?token=eyJhbGciOiJkaXIiLCJlbmMiOiJBMTI4Q0JDLUhTMjU2In0..iU4SQs5KZupgzDbbJDOwgg.sWwysJjyWbqgMUgsGVmhHNQy3O3IYh8-f95ZT36V3dZox7Lf7v-uLtL4XZh6Iiou27FWb5TkpLBztjMh7tEJtEx_uQywYvt9jhra9CDb8rwrQxQ5JvKGcEgpMkPQfFglcpQKRncff6Jei4i9edVG7dKVA4kz-TkgwOn4zbMUbYGT9LChwZfds-8JzEMPlqXr0CSWchcs_vMo1gR89g0Pv4iEtJkijCHT9UoVHPK6e90YpPHcguvFNsrZKi-KM0DOGLiPyIgnDuvl8eT0IKN6iA.n3LQTi3wBGmfS-GLK9OxoQ

We know that no bumper sticker slogan will fix the mess our country is in. That’s why Democrats are rolling up our sleeves to give back to our communities now and through 2018. Join us at [insert event] on [date]: [event link] #DemsForYou

Democrats are getting to work to give back and make our neighborhoods, towns, and cities a better place — in every commu

Democrats lead with our values, and that means giving back to the communities that have given so much to us. Sign up to join us for acts of service through 2018: [https://my.democrats.org/page/event/create] #DemsForYou

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posted by |
December 31, 2017

From Julian Bryan:

In the quiet of this week, as many of us enjoy time off from work (and from Congress being in session!) the Excom and global teams are wrapping up several projects and preparing for our massive GOTV efforts in 2018.

Before the New Year we’ll be presenting a working set of guidelines for DA expanding our Code of Conduct to specifically address sexual harassment issues.

We’re also preparing our first GOTV email for the year, which will go out on January 1st to all members and will encourage everyone to kick start the year by sending in their ballot requests.

Sadly, we learned this week that Stanley Grossman passed away over the weekend. Stanley was a two-term DA DNC member, a long-term advocate for FATCA reform, and a passionate Democrats Abroad leader. He will be greatly missed by many. Joe Smallhoover (France) is currently working on a resolution honoring him – if you have any comments to add to the resolution please reach out to him.

Stanley would have been delighted to hear the news from Washington. Thanks to the mighty efforts of our Taxation task force, we are really pleased to note that Representatives Dina Titus and Jamie Raskin have both submitted statements to the Congressional record supporting Americans abroad and the need for taxation reform on our behalf.

We encourage you to review these statements. They are valuable evidence for our members that DA is heard in Congress, and that we have Congressional friends who believe in the importance of votes from abroad.

Our next ExCom meeting is today at 8am DC time. As always we'd be delighted to have you join as a guest. If you're interested, just get in touch with Jeffrey Cheng at secretary@democratsabroad.org and he'll send you the link to the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do!

Best, Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

Mark your calendars

GOTV 2018 Kickoff!! – January 1, 2018

March to the Ballot Box – January 20th - 21st, 2018

Annual General Meeting – May 25-27th, 2018

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posted by |
December 28, 2017

Unity Reform Commission Information

Dear DNC Member,

Please find here, the final report of the DNC's Unity Reform Commission. The Rules and Bylaws Committee will begin its work to incorporate these recommendations in the 2020 Delegate Selection documents.

https://dnc.app.box.com/s/55lk3avwwnpqu2g00sdyd1i6ylz9fz0b

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued leadership and work this past year. We have a lot to celebrate and be proud of as Democrats. Have a wonderful holiday season with some much-needed rest!

Yours,

Jason Rae

Secretary

Democratic National Committee

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posted by |
December 24, 2017

Julia Bryan in the Alabama Vote

Glorious news from Alabama today! To follow up on this remarkable win, we are going to be sending out an email tomorrow morning to all members. In the email we will encourage everyone to call their senators and demand that they wait till newly elected senator Doug Jones is seated to vote on the tax bill. Due to Alabama's rules, that will not happen until Congress is in session next year. This action is inline with Chuck Schumer's call for Mitch McConnell to "hit pause on the tax bill and not hold a final vote till Jones is sworn into the Senate." We will provide scripts and calling information, as usual.

Please let me know if you will be able to encourage your members to participate in this action as well.

All the best,

Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

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posted by |
December 13, 2017

DA's current version of the Code of Conduct and Ethics

As a follow up to the DPCA Executive Committee's Statement on Sexual Harassment, please click the following link to view DA's current version of the Code of Conduct and Ethics. Please note that the Code of Conduct applies equally to all elected and appointed officers and representatives of the Democratic Party Committee Abroad and its recognized member country committees.

Best regards,

Tom Schmid

International Counsel

Democratic Party Committee Abroad

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posted by |
December 07, 2017