In This Issue —
Events:
- Progressive Happy Hour Calling Party!
- Voter Help Tables in Vienna
- Experienced Dems Meet-up
- Young Dems Pub Night
- Election Night Party on November 8
- Thanksgiving: A Feast with all the Fixings on November 24
- Punsching for Democracy – TBA
Issues & Actions:
- Key Senate and Congressional Races
- Help Make November a Roe Wave
Midterm Election News:
- Thanks to our great phone-bankers!
- Vote from Austria! – Voter Information Guide
- Information for Ballot Access & Return
- DHL 20% Discount
Review:
- DAATalks about the Georgia Midterm Elections
Democrats Abroad In the News:
- DA in Teen Vogue and Other Publications
Members Corner
- Campaign Support from a Distance
Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. Our next meeting will be held in person and online on: Wednesday, October 12, 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
It’s almost a rap! Less than 30 days to go until the midterm election - and we are doing everything we can to rally the overseas vote. We even produced the first-ever VoteFromAbroad.org Rap! If you have not seen it, you can find it here on Facebook and here on YouTube! A big thanks to our vice chair, Faith Herbold, for rapping with me, all those who sent in contributions for the chorus, and to my musical collaborator, Gregor Loetsch, an Austrian ally of ours, for composing the music and producing the video. Please watch it, share it, and spread the word. Request your ballot at VoteFromAbroad.org, and send it in ASAP!
A big shout out to all of our volunteers who are doing all they can in their free time and in between full-time jobs to get out the vote in these final weeks. A special thanks to all of our amazingly dedicated phonebankers in Austria, who are among the top callers in the DA world. You are truly making a difference!
Keep motivated and keep positive.
— Richard Miller, Chair, DA Austria
ps –
Let us know if you've already voted! The more members who self-report, the less money and volunteer time we have to spend!
Events:
Progressive Happy Hour Calling Party!
When: Friday, October 14
Time: 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Where: Online. RSVP for details
Voter Registration Help Tables in Vienna
When: Saturday, October 15 and 22
Time: 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Where: Café Museum, Operngasse 7, Vienna 1010. RSVP for details
Experienced Dems Meet-up
When: Tuesday, October 18
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Where: Café Museum, Operngasse 7, Vienna 1010. RSVP for details
Election Night Party on November 8
When: Election Day, Tuesday, November 8
Time: 8:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. (November 9)
Where: The Long Hall Bar Vienna. RSVP for details
What: Join DA Austria as we celebrate our efforts in getting out the vote and watch as the first results come in.
Giving Thanks: A Feast with all the Fixings
When: November 24
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Where: Melker Stiftskeller, Schottengasse 3, Vienna 1010. RSVP for details
What: The restaurant will prepare turkey with all the fixings, including a famous aunt's stuffing recipe. Please bring a pie or other dessert to share. Let us know if you can contribute a family favorite!
Drinks are not included and you pay those separately with the restaurant.
The price is $30 for adults, $26 for vegetarians, and $12 for children 12 and under. Please purchase your tickets on the link after you've RSVP'd. Euro/US Dollar ticket price is the same.
Click "Read More" below to find out everything that's happening in DA Austria in October
Issues & Actions:
A huge thanks and congratulations to our Austrian phone banking team!
As of September 27, our team has made thousands of calls, and of these they’ve been able to CONNECT with 2,073 Dems abroad, which statistically means they’ve moved the needle on numbers of U.S. voters overseas going to VoteFromAbroad.org to request their ballots and vote!
And a special thanks to Marjorie Rosenberg and Susan Ball, who are in 7th and 14th place worldwide in phonebanking conversations…amazing!
Every call counts, so please, if you’ve got time as we head into the last weeks before the midterms, we welcome every effort, big or small.
If you need training or a refresher, go to https://www.democratsabroad.org/phone banking_training
Thanks for helping and thanks for voting!
– Yvonne Richard, DA Austria Phone-banking Coordinator
Key Senate and Congressional Races
There are nine races deemed “highly competitive” by the Cook Report and others. With a net gain of two senators (= victory in six of these nine contests), Dems take real control of the Senate. Share these candidates’ websites on social media! Far and wide!
Find out more about about key races here: Battleground State Voting Information Pages and State Team Pages.
Help Make November a Roe Wave!
The Supreme Court’s erosion of abortion protections with the Dobbs ruling has caused a backlash and turned what looked like would be a red wave in November into a possible Roe wave.
Woman from Kansas to New York to Louisiana are registering to vote in record-breaking numbers* (NYT Tom Bonier, 9.3.2022). Mr Bonier writes, “As for many Americans, confronting the loss of abortion rights was different from anticipating it. . . . Women are engaged politically in a way that lacks any known precedent.”
Be a part of it! Make sure every woman you know—whether they’re in Austria or in the States, your daughter or your grandmother—casts their ballot in November’s election. Send them to VoteFromAbroad.org or, if they’re in the U.S., to votesaveamerica.com.
Bonier continues, “Whether the coming elections will be viewed as a red wave, a Roe wave, or something in between will be decided by the actions of millions of Americans — especially, it seems, American women.”
At Democrats Abroad we know our votes are critical in swinging elections — ladies, let’s show how it’s done.
Photograph courtesy of Christine Benally Peranteau
Midterm Election News:
Vote from Austria! – Voter Information Guide
Democrats Abroad has created a one stop spot for answering your voting questions. Please share this guide with friends and colleagues who may have questions. Check it out here!
Information for Ballot Access & Return
General information and ballot tracking info by state at www.votefromabroad.org/states
And state-specific guides for states that often have more barriers to accessing and/or returning ballots:
DHL Discount to the U.S.
If your state requires postal mail ballot return, the quickest option is to use a courier service.
DA Austria has arranged with DHL a discount for ballots to be returned to the U.S. DHL is offering a discount to send mail (including your ballot) from Austria to the US. The discount is available from Sept. 15 to Nov. 30, 2022. Packages can be sent from DHL Express Flagship Stores and Service Points.
Use USA20 for a 20% discount. More information and details are here: https://www.simplydhl.com/at/usa2022
Please do not use an online booking service if your state requires a postmark to be on the outside envelope AND your ballot might arrive close to or after Nov 8! Find out your state’s requirements here.
DHL cannot send to a P.O. Box! Be sure to confirm a street address with your local election official if a P.O. Box is the return address on your ballot.
📌 Remember! Only use a mail service if you cannot return your ballot electronically 📌
Review:
DAATalks About the Georgia Midterms
On October 3, DA Austria was thrilled to welcome Georgia State Senator Sheikh Rahman. Senator Rahman, who works closely with Stacey Abrams’s campaign, gave us an overview of her current race for governor of Georgia as well as other races in this all-important battleground state. Thank you Sheikh for spending an evening with us!
Do you vote in Georgia? Voting has never been more important and your vote is crucial! You can send in your FPCA to your local election office in Georgia by email (recommended) or fax or mail:
If you are registered to vote, you MUST still send in an FPCA to request your ballot in 2022 to vote in this election. To receive a ballot by email, your FPCA must be received by October 28, 2022.
If you are NOT registered to vote, your FPCA must be received by October 11, 2022.
Find out more about voting at the Georgia State page. If you run into any problems while trying to vote, contact our voter help team at [email protected]. Join the Georgians Abroad facebook group.
Democrats Abroad In the News:
DA International Chair Featured in Teen Vogue
Fellow Democrats Abroad members and friends, do you "know any young US Americans studying or working abroad? They're not too far away to vote! Pass it on." The youth vote is a critical and often untapped voting group in elections. DA’s own International Chair and DNC Youth Council Vice Chair, Candice Kerestan, created three easy steps to get the word out.
Thank you, Teen Vogue, for explaining how easy it is for US citizens to vote while studying or living abroad.
Be sure to request your ballot and share this information with those you know abroad. Send them to VoteFromAbroad.org
Country Committees in the News
Democrats Abroad committees around the world regularly work to get out the message in local media outlets. Here’s a sampling of some recent articles.
- DA Canada – Niagra Falls Review, Sept 18
- DA Ireland – BreakingNews.ie, Sept 25
- DA Belgium – Brussels Times, Oct 1
Do you have media contacts that would like to feature the work we’re doing? Please contact Rich at [email protected]
Member’s Corner:
Campaign Support from a Distance
For the past nine months, I have been working on Rahsaan Hall’s campaign for Plymouth County District Attorney in southeastern Massachusetts. Yes, the home of Plymouth Rock, but also 500,000 people in a diverse county with small cities, suburbs, and exurbs, about an hour south of Boston. It’s also where I grew up. Twenty years ago, Rahsaan and I were prosecutors together in Boston, and while my life took me far from home, I knew that Rahsaan was someone I wanted to stay friends with. Watching his work and his passion to reclaim the spirit of justice, a catchphrase that's earned and true for him, over the years made me realize that I was looking forward to working with him again too. When Rahsaan decided to run for District Attorney in my home county, I knew I wanted to be a part of it, even though I lived 4,000 miles away.
I'm thrilled to support Rahsaan's DA campaign as its Policy Director. We're working together to show the people of Plymouth County that there is a better way to keep the public safe. A way based on protecting vulnerable people that is transparent and accountable and works to ensure all of our rights. A way that is fair to those who have suffered from crime and learns from data and evidence to promote harm reduction and not punitive punishment. A way that fights against racial disparities by taking the words of the law – justice, equality, fairness – seriously for everyone.
Rahsaan became the Democratic nominee in early September and is now campaigning against a 20-year Republican incumbent whose idea of prosecution is stuck in the early ’90s. Rahsaan will follow data and evidence, not his gut, to keep the public safe while protecting the Constitution at the same time. This means a commitment to harm reduction strategies like diversion, which have been shown to reduce recidivism, unlike incarceration, which actually promotes further criminality. Rahsaan will also establish a robust Integrity and Justice Unit to monitor ongoing cases and convictions obtained to make sure people were treated fairly and justice was done. This is what a modern prosecutor looks like, and Rahsaan will bring this approach to southeastern Massachusetts.
Join us on this journey together: https://www.hall4da.com
If you want to learn more, support the campaign (donations accepted!), or support Rahsaan's policy team, click the link above or send me a note at [email protected].
– Josh Friedman, DA Austria Counsel
DONATE to Democrats Abroad, the only organization working to mobilize overseas voters – no other arm of the Democratic Party, organization, or campaign is doing this important work. And our work and our votes matter. Support our critical voter outreach programs today at www.democratabroad.org/donate.