In April's Newsletter —
Events:
- Senator Amy Klobuchar Webinar
- Monthly Executive Committee Meeting
- Experienced Dems May Meet-up
Message from the Chair
Inside DA Austria:
- New DAA Executive Committee Elected
- ERA 100 Years Commemoration
Issues & Actions:
- 2024 Delegate Selection Plan
- DA Global Annual General Meeting and Elections
- EMEA Regional Annual General Meeting and Elections
- Open Caucus and Committee Positions
Our Executive Committee meetings are now held on the first Tuesday of the month. Our next meeting will be held online on: Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Richard at [email protected] for the location information.
DAA is making a strong effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!
Events:
Senator Amy Klobuchar Webinar
When: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Time: 2:00 p.m. (Vienna)
Where: Online. RSVP for the link https://www.democratsabroad.org/amy_klobuchar_041823
Monthly Executive Committee Meeting
When: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Where: In person. Contact Richard ([email protected]) for the location.
Experienced Dems May Meet-up
When: TBA
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Where: Café Museum, Operngasse 7, Vienna 1010
Go to the Event Page for other Caucus events hosted online! https://www.democratsabroad.org/at_events
Message from the Chair
DA Austria has a new Executive Committee for 2023-25. Some faces you know (mine included) and some are new. I am very grateful for our new ExCom members Marjorie Rosenberg, our vice chair, Jacqueline Berman, our secretary, Jeffrey Velasquez, our counsel, and Andrew Nash, our new member at large. They are all sure to inject new energy and insights to support the work of Democrats Abroad as we set the stage for 2024. One area we would like to improve is to hold one event per month in order to strengthen the DA Austria community. If you have an idea for an event - or better yet a fundraiser - please let me know by writing to [email protected]
— Richard Miller, DA Austria Chair
Inside DA Austria:
New DA Austria Executive Committee Elected
Austria’s Annual General Meeting and Elections was held on March 19, 2023 in the 7th district in Vienna. Thank you to everyone who attended or voted early.
Guest speakers, DNC Vice Chair Ken Martin and DA Executive Director Jarryd Rauch gave enlightening talks about the state of the party, upcoming presidential elections, and answered our questions. Thank you Ken and Jarryd for making time in your schedules to join us!
A big thank you to the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC), Brett Carnito, Renee McCormack, Amanda Grossman, and Hilary Monihan who ran smooth, open, and transparent elections. And to DA’s Auditors, Harold Otto and Bruce Murray, who made an annual review of DAA’s financial accounts. Your service is appreciated!
To maximize opportunities for engagement in the electoral process, the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) issued multiple announcements soliciting nominations in the weeks before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and ensured that members would have ample time to cast votes, beginning on February 2. Voting concluded during the March 19, 2023 AGM. Although several qualified candidates stepped forward to serve on the ExComm, there were no contested races.
Congratulations to our new ExComm members!
Chair: Richard Miller, Vice Chair: Marjorie Rosenberg, Secretary: Jacqueline Berman, Treasurer: Diego Heatherman, and Counsel: Jeffrey Velasquez.
Members-at-Large: Marcy Fowler, Andy Nash, and Jennifer Rakow-Stepper.
DPCA Voting Representatives: Bruce Murray and Jennifer Rakow-Stepper.
DPCA Non-Voting Representatives: Jacqueline Berman, Josh Friedman, and Tanya Lolonis.
ERA 100 Years Commemoration
At the AGM, former DAA Vice Chair Ashley Arreola shared with us a cake to commemorate 100 years of the Equal Rights Amendment STILL not being passed into law! Thank you Ashley for your tenacity (and the delicious cake)!
Issues and Actions
Global Meeting to Approve the Delegate Selection Plan
The Democrats Abroad (DPCA) voting body will vote on the approval of the 2024 Delegate Selection Plan during an online meeting on Apr 22, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. Vienna time.
This meeting is open to all DA members. DPCA Voting Members—including Country Chairs, Country Vice Chairs, DPCA Voting Representatives, DNC members, and DPCA International Officers—are explicitly asked to attend.
During this meeting, we will also vote to confirm our 2023 Global Annual General Meeting dates and location (announced as June 9-11, 2023, in Washington, D.C.). Please RSVP here: https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpcavoteondsp
Background on the Delegate Selection Process –
Every four years, the Democratic Party begins designing the Delegate Selection Rules and a resulting nominating process for the next presidential election.
While the Rules drafting process begins anew after each Presidential election, many norms and traditions carry over, including a rule that lets some states hold their nominating contest early, which in 2024 will be South Carolina, Nevada & New Hampshire, Michigan, and Georgia.
Across the US and the world, all 57 Democratic state parties are at work planning the 2024 presidential primary contest, specifically by developing a unique DSP. In a nutshell, the DSP is a binding document that defines how each state party will run its 2024 presidential primary and select delegates to send to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Each state party must submit a final DSP to the Democratic National Committee by May 3, 2023. Prior to that, there must be at least a 30-day public comment period, which Democrats Abroad began on March 6, 2023, and concluded on April 5, 2023.
Democrats Abroad has worked hard at crafting our Delegate Selection Plan, which is the guiding document as we play our part in nominating our Party's 2024 nominees for President and Vice President of the United States.
You can review a copy of our draft 2024 Delegate Selection Plan
Thank you to all who submitted feedback through the public comment form and/or at our town halls!
You can learn more about the 2024 presidential nominating process here: https://www.democratsabroad.org/presidentialnominatingprocess.
Upcoming 2023 Global & Regional Meetings
The 2023 Annual Global Meeting and EMEA Regional Meeting will take place online and in person on the weekend of June 9–11 in Washington D.C. All DA members are welcome to attend the meetings or join the Gala dinner on Saturday, June 10. The election of the International Executive Committee will take place on Sunday, June 11. Please keep an eye out for “meet the candidate” events listed on the DA website.
The EMEA Regional Meeting will take place from 9–10:00 a.m. (CET) on Sunday, June 11. The only order of business is for the election of the 2023–2025 EMEA Regional Vice Chair. A candidate forum will be held on May 31, 2023 online.
During the global meeting, DPCA (Democratic Party Committee Abroad) voting representatives elected at the county committee level (four from Austria) will elect the International Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Legal Counsel. These individuals will lead Democrats Abroad for the next two years, guiding and supporting all of our leaders, volunteers, and members around the world. Chairs, Vice Chairs, and DPCA Voting representatives of compliant country committees of Democrats Abroad may vote.
The agenda, candidate list, proposed resolutions, and link to RSVP for the meetings will be included in the May newsletter.
— Jen Rakow-Stepper, DPCA Voting Representative
Open Caucus and Committee Positions
We are searching for people to lead some of our caucuses, namely the Youth Caucus, AAPI Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, and LGBTQ+ Caucus. If you have questions about leading a caucus, please reach out. You can also read about all our volunteer positions here.
— Richard Miller, DA Austria Chair