In This Issue —
Events:
- Experienced Dems Meet-Up – Summer pause
- Global Pride Fundraiser in Amsterdam
- Lady Day Theater FunRaiser
- Oktoberfest in Munich
Issues & Actions:
- We Can & Must Fight Back
- DA Austria In the News
- Innsbruck Consular Services
- Follow us on TikTok
Midterm Election News:
- The Missing 83%
- State Teams
- Dialing for Democracy Results
Reviews:
- Pride Parade
- Fourth of July Party
Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. Our next meeting will be held online on: Wednesday, July 13, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Richard at [email protected] to join.
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!
Message from the Chair
Leading up to our Independence Day Celebration in Vienna, I heard from a number of people who wanted to sit this July 4th out. They told me they thought there was nothing to celebrate about America. The Supreme Court decisions overturning Roe v Wade, the ruling limiting the EPA’s power to combat climate change, the seemingly weekly news of mass shootings - now even at a July 4th Parade - are tragedies that leave us little to celebrate.
However, it is my hope that we can channel our emotions - our sadness, anger, frustation - to take action. For Democrats Abroad, that means ensuring every one of our 200,000 plus members requests their ballot and votes in the mid-term elections. We have a ways to go. As of today, only 18% of our members have requested their ballot at our VFA website, and only 17% of our members in Austria.
What can you do? If you have not done so already, please request your ballot at VoteFromAbroad.org. Also, please volunteer with Democrats Abroad Austria, including perhaps joining our phone banking team. DA Global is launching important calling campaigns in August to call overseas Americans who vote in battleground states. Please consider joining us! It is both fun and rewarding work helping voters to request their ballot. The overseas vote was the margin of victory in key races in 2020 and 2021.
Let’s do it in 2022!
-Richard Miller, chair, Democrats Abroad Austria
Events:
Training Tuesdays
When: Ongoing
Time: See schedule
Where: Online
Hosted by DA Germany
State Teams Events and Planning Sessions
When: Ongoing
Time: See schedule
Where: Online
Hosted by: DA State Teams
Amsterdam Canal Pride
When: August 5–8
Time: Varies
Where: Amsterdam
Hosted by DA Global LGBTQ+ Caucus & DA Netherlands
Theater Fun-Raiser – Lady Day
When: September 20
Time: 8:00pm
Where: Drachengasse Theater
Minimum Donation: $38
Hosted by DA Austria
Oktoberfest Extravaganza
When: Oct 2, 2022
Time: 11:00 am
Where: Munich
Hosted by DA Global & DA Germany
Issues & Actions:
We Can & Must Fight Back
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is an abhorrent and unprecedented assault on our fundamental human rights. Today is a dark day, a hard day in American history.
Stripped of protections and freedoms the past 50 years had granted us, we now confront a new, grim reality where our health, marriages, and basic bodily autonomy are on the chopping block. Make no mistake: the radical Republican Party has no intention of stopping with Roe.
We can and we must fight back. We must show up to the polls this November — and make sure that every single American we know has a plan to vote, too.
In this moment of despair, let us not forget that the power still resides with us – and that the overwhelming majority of Americans support the freedoms Roe upheld. A net gain of only two more U.S. Senators will allow for abortion rights to be codified at the federal level. The America we want, need, and deserve is within reach, and Democrats Abroad is committed to making it a reality.
We still have each other — and our resolve to fight for our basic rights. Let’s do this.
– Candice Kerestan, DA International Chair
DA Austria In the News
Sophie Spiegelberger, DA Austria Communications Director, was invited to appear on Puls 24 on July 1 to discuss the US Supreme Court’s decision to curtail the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Interested in more news regarding the decision? Be sure to join the Global Progressive Caucus and the Global Environment and Climate Crisis Council to stay informed.
Innsbruck Consular Services – July 18-19
Attention U.S. citizens in western Austria! A Consular Team from U.S. Embassy Vienna will be visiting Innsbruck, Monday July 18 - Tuesday, July 19, 2022. We are offering LIMITED appointments for applicants who must appear in-person for services such as Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), passport renewals for children under 16, and replacement of a lost or stolen passport (DS-11 applications), and emergency notary services. The turnaround time for passports and CRBAs is about 2 weeks.
If you are interested in Innsbruck services, please send a detailed email to [email protected] and include the names and Dates of Birth of all applicants and attendees, contact information, and what service(s) you require.
Due to the high demand and limited appointment slots, we will not be able to accept all requests. If your case is selected, we will send you a follow-up email with the exact time, date and location for your Innsbruck appointment.
Innsbruck applicants must arrive fully prepared with all required application forms, supporting documentation, photocopies and self-addressed stamped envelope. We are only able to accept payment in Euros (exact change only).
See the consulate’s website for detailed instructions on all consular services: https://at.usembassy.gov
– U.S. Embassy Vienna
Follow us on TikTok
Vote from Abroad is on TikTok and it’s pretty awesome. Have your kids show you how to use it if you don’t know 😉. DA-UKs summer interns from Syracuse have outdone themselves! Take a look at the VoteFromAbroad TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@votefromabroad.org and the Democrats Abroad TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@demsabroad/video/7105060440622845189
– Linda Adeson, DA United Kingdom
Midterm Election News:
The Missing 83%
Are you one of the 83% of DA Austria members who has not yet gone to VoterFromAbroad and requested your ballot for the 2022 midterms? What are you waiting for?
The GOP is and will do everything in their power to prevent our votes from being counted. Do not let that happen! Go to votefromabroad.org today and register/request your ballot. The FVAP form on the site provides special protections for overseas voters that a regular absentee ballot does not. Plus, the up-to-date Frequently Asked Questions section and voter assistance volunteers are there to answer your questions.
Be counted — and make sure your family, friends and colleagues are too!
State Teams
Do you vote in California, Ohio, North Carolina or Florida? The State Teams group is hosting Candidate meet & greets and organizing meetings in July. Go to the State Teams event page to find out more about these events and others from many States across the Union.
Dialing for Democracy Results
The D4D 48 hour around-the-world fundraiser Call-a-thon which took place over the weekend of June 25-26 was a great success!
Thanks to the time and amazing effort spent by DA volunteers during Dialing for Democracy, together 72 callers from 21 countries on four continents and in all three regions made 5771 calls!
And 24 donors raised more than $2400 to help Democrats Abroad to get out the overseas vote.
Working together on actions like D4D shows DA volunteers are a force to be reckoned with when we set our minds to it. The surge of calls over the weekend was 4-5 times our recent daily call averages and it is truly important to get to these battleground state voters now, as our callers know from hearing members eagerness to vote and their need to be reminded!
DA Austria led the way in the number of contributions given from any one country with nine unique donations raising $670 dollars — thank you donors for your generosity!
Four DA-AT callers (the sixth from 21 CCs participating ) made 323 calls, the fourth highest – only behind Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico – once again swinging above our weight! Thank you callers!
Please donate a little or a lot to congratulate DA Austria’s callers’ success and support the thousands of calls that we’ll be making in the fall! https://www.democratsabroad.org/d4d_donate
Are you interested in helping us call members in the fall? There are regular training sessions to learn to be a phonebanker or to help answer voter questions. Find out more here https://www.democratsabroad.org/live_training Trainings are updated regularly.
– Jen Rakow-Stepper, DA-AT Member-at-Large, RVC-EMEA
Review:
Pride Parade
Thanks to everyone who joined Democrats Abroad Austria as we again walked with pride in Vienna’s annual Regenbogenparade on June 26. While our group was small, we had lots of spirit and Faith’s soundtrack had the crowd around us dancing!
Fourth of July Party
Thanks to everyone who attended our Fourth of July event in the Prater! We had live music from the band “Rage Against the Voting Machines” and your chair and vice chair, Richard and Faith, performed the VoteFromAbroad.org Rap (stay tuned for the music video). Congratulations to our raffle winners. The event was a fundraiser for DA Global’s get-out-of-the-vote efforts, including funding upcoming calling campaigns. We raised a bit over 200 euros for the cause. If you care to contribute, here is the link.
Thank you for reading July’s newsletter and we’ll see you in September!
Our fearless Chair & Vice Chair at Vienna Pride