Primary Voting is finally here!

That means we can all choose a presidential candidate to vote for in the Global Presidential Primary for Democrats Abroad!

First make sure you are a member of Democrats Abroad and have an account, and here’s all the ways you can do it!

Cast a Primary Ballot Online!

The fastest method!

The fastest way to cast your ballot is to do it remotely from your PC and e-mail it in! It’s quick and easy to get a ballot filled out and sent over to Democrats Abroad Global, and you don’t even need to be a resident of Japan - any member of Democrats Abroad can cast their ballot this way! Voting is open until March 10th, but don’t wait!

Follow the steps here to download your ballot and submit it via e-mail!

Cast a Primary Ballot at a Voting Center on Sunday, March 8th, 2020!

The easiest method!

If you live near a population center, you can come to a voting center! A voting center can help you with all your options for the 2020 election!

When you go to a voting center you can get help with the following options!
- Voting in the Global Presidential Primary!
- Requesting a Ballot from your State for the 2020 General Election!
- Verifying your Democrats Abroad Membership!
- & Joining Democrats Abroad if you’re a new voter and it’s your first time reading anything like this! We will be there to help!

We will have three voting centers open on Sunday, March 8th, 2020! Here’s the location with a Google Maps pin to each!

Kanto Voting Center (Tokyo)
Tokyo GS Heim Satō Bldg
GS Heim Satō Bldg #302, Yoyogi, 2-7-6, Shibuya-Ward, Tokyo
(JP): 東京都渋谷区代々木2-7-6 GSハイム佐藤ビル302
Voting Center Google Maps Pin: http://goo.gl/maps/ttkpwrWxCdZgCwaw7
Time: 12:00PM to 7:00PM

Kansai Voting Center (Osaka)
Sauce Boss Osaka
1-chōme-5-13 Kitahorie, Nishi-ku, Osaka, 550-0014
(JP): 大阪府 大阪市西区 北堀江 1-5-13 550-0014
Voting Center Google Maps Pin: http://g.page/saucebossosaka
Time: 12:00PM to 9:00PM

Tokai Voting Center (Nagoya)
Shooters Sports Bar & Grill
Nagoya-shi, Naka-ku, Sakae 2-9-26 Pola Building 2F 460-0008
(JP): 〒460-0008 Aichi, Nagoya, Naka Ward, Sakae, 2 Chome−9−26
ポーラ名古屋ビル
Voting Center Google Maps Pin: http://goo.gl/maps/ByxvJrffXZMM8tNRA
Time: 12:00PM to 7:00PM

Request and Send a Primary Ballot via Snail Mail!

The Traditional Method!

If you don’t have reliable computer access or just want to mail it out, our Remote Ballot Warden, Dave, is here to help out! You can mail a remote ballot directly to him and as long as it’s received by 9:00PM JST on Wednesday, March 11th, 2019. That means you should mail it right away!

If you want to request a paper ballot, you can do that as well to the same mailing address or via e-mail!

Requesting a Snail Mail Ballot:
You can e-mail a request to jp-treasurer@democratsabroad.org with your address or send a mail to:
Dave Brauer
6-40-4 Todoroki
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 158-0082

Submitting a Snail Mail Ballot:
Mail your filled out ballot to:
Dave Brauer
6-40-4 Todoroki
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 158-0082

or, Fax it to:
+1 (202) 217-4277 by 11:59PM Tuesday, March 10th, 2019

That’s everything!

Remember that casting a primary ballot is internal to the party, and you can still request you 2020 General Election Ballot by visiting VoteFromAbroad.org! Do that first if you’ve never voted overseas before!

Happy voting!

The 2020 Democratic primary elections are already here – and the general election is fast approaching! Update your voter registration and submit your ballot request now to make sure you receive a ballot for every election you’re eligible for in 2020!

Register and Request Your Ballot Now!

Even if you are already registered to vote, you must submit a ballot request to your local election officials in order to receive your overseas ballot for each calendar year in which you intend to vote. You only need to submit it once to receive all ballots for all eligible elections in 2020, so send it in as soon as possible!

Make a NEW ballot request for 2020 — send your form as early as Jan. 2, 2020.

1. Go to www.votefromabroad.org to register to vote and complete the Ballot Request form (FPCA).
   We recommend that you choose to receive your ballot by EMAIL or ONLINE to get it fastest.
2. Follow the instructions to attach your signature online, or print out the completed form to sign it.
3. Send the signed FPCA to your election official.
   To request an absentee ballot, registered voters can EMAIL, FAX or MAIL the FPCA.

• After you send in your form, be sure to email or call your Local Election Official to verify they received it and will be sending a ballot to you. You can find contact information for your election official using the State Voting Guide on VoteFromAbroad.org or on the instructions printed with your completed form.
• If you use the FPCA to request a ballot, only one form submission is needed to cover all 2020 elections, including the November 3 general election.
• You can expect to receive your ballot 45 days before the election. Send your FPCA as early as January 2, 2020 to get all your ballots as soon as they are available. Mark your calendar: the November ballot will be sent to you by September 19.

 If you have any questions while filling out the form on VoteFromAbroad.org, click the orange chat box button on the lower right corner of the screen to send a question to the Voter Help Desk.

2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries

• To vote in your state’s Democratic Party presidential primary election, go to www.votefromabroad.org and submit your Ballot Request form as soon as possible. If your state’s registration deadline for the primary has not already passed, you will receive your primary ballot as soon as it is available. Make sure to submit it well in advance of the “Received by” deadline.
• State-By-State 2020 Primary Elections Calendar: https://www.democratsabroad.org/2020_primaries
• If it is too late to receive a ballot for your state’s Democratic presidential primary, you can still vote in the Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary on March 8, 2020.

Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary

 We will host our primaries in Japan on March 8th, 2020, with voting center locations in Kanto, Tokai, and Kansai. 

• Same-day in-person voter registration
• Voting by email or postal mail also available from February 18, 2020
• Even if you vote in the Global Presidential primary, you can still vote in your state’s downballot primary elections! If all positions are listed on the same ballot in your state’s primary, just leave the President field blank and vote only for the downballot positions.

Get Out the Vote!

 Looking to get involved this year? Join our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) team and help register voters in Japan and around the world!

• Attend our Annual General Meeting on February 8th, 2020 for GOTV training and more information about the primaries.
• If you can’t attend on February 8th or want to start volunteering as soon as possible, email our GOTV Chair Rebecca at rebecca.democratsabroadjapan@gmail.com to sign up!

2019 may be winding down, but your Executive Committee (ExCom) is getting fired up! 2020 is a critical election year, with the Global Presidential Primary (GPP) in March and the Presidential Election in November. It is imperative to get Americans living abroad registered and ready to vote for the sake of our democracy. Get Out The Vote efforts are crucial, and we call on our membership to help make this happen.

1. The Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary will be held from March 3rd until March 10th for Americans living abroad to vote for their Democratic candidate. This is essential in giving Americans abroad the opportunity to make their voices heard. In Japan, we will set up voting centers for the GPP in Kanto, Kansai, and Tokai. Running these voting centers successfully requires the support of volunteers, such as greeters, voter registration assistants, and Democrats Abroad registration assistants. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact DAJ Secretary Anna Costello at anna.democratsabroadjapan@gmail.com.

2. As of December 10th, we have achieved 45% of our fundraising goal! Our matching campaign closes on December 27th, so there’s time to double your money and reach our goal of funding a campaign the size of 2008 at 1 million yen! Donations to DAJ will be used to fund the GPP, Get Out the Vote activities, and anything else required to help achieve victory in 2020! Information on how to donate can be accessed here: https://www.democratsabroad.org/daj_fundraising_2019

3. Thank you for attending our Thanksgiving events in Kanto and Tokai! Traditionally, the DAJ Thanksgivings events have been our largest social and fundraising gatherings. This year was no exception, with both events having close to 70 attendees combined and raising over 135,000 yen. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

4. Women’s March: We need people to set up and manage the DAJ participation on January 18th. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact DAJ Secretary Anna Costello at anna.democratsabroadjapan@gmail.com.

5. The Democrats Abroad Affirmative Action Committee is conducting a diversity and inclusion survey, open to all members of Democrats Abroad. The survey is approximately 3-5 minutes long and can be accessed here: https://demsabroad.typeform.com/to/VGYo1c

Have a happy holiday and get ready for 2020!

Sincerely,
Anna Costello
DAJ Secretary

For the October 2019 - March 2020 Period

The Current Situation 

• There are 50,000 United States Citizens living in Japan, but only ~3,100 are Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) Members. 
• Of those ~3,100 members, fewer than 5% are actively volunteering, and resources for the activists to run training sessions and engage membership are insufficient. 
• Democrats Abroad Japan has major obligations and plans that need funding, in particular, we must stage the Global Presidential Primary, which needs polling stations, advertising, and GoTV. 
• The DAJ National Bank Account was below $500 in funds after membership certification. 

Proposed Budget

Our administration is very transparent about how money is spent, and you can publicly check our national ledger at any time. Here’s how your donation will help:

• We currently plan to open three polling stations on Honshuu, one in each of the population centers of Kanto (Tokyo), Kansai (Osaka), and Tokai (Nagoya). In 2016 we registered hundreds of new members on polling day, and with more funding, we hope to triple those gains by hosting voting centers in more areas next year. 
• Print Advertising - The Japan Times, Stars and Stripes, and American Chamber of Commerce in Japan have many readers both online and in deliverables, for both primary and general elections. 
• Phone Banking - These are campaigns all members can easily engage in.
• Debates and Event Hosting - By being able to subsidize the cost of food and attendance, we can reach younger members who have more time than money to donate. 
• Operating Expenses - Keeping in physical communication helps keep our activists dedicating their time. 

National ExCom Donation Matching

On October 20th, 2019 in Tokyo, Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) hosted their first policy forum: the Policy Forum on Restoring American Democracy and U.S. Leadership. This policy forum served as the beginning of DAJ platform discussion and the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Americans gathered to discuss key policy issues bound to affect all Americans. The forum featured four speakers, including former leaders in the United States Government and the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA), who spoke on the direction of such issues.

The Unity Reform Commission - the document that contains everything the Democratic Party learned after 2016 - brought them together. This wasn't a time for minor differences on how to advance health care - it was about the major issues that face the entire party, regardless of who the presidential nominee would be.

Ambassador Robert Orr (Former United States Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank) kicked off the discussion, helping people understand the reality America's international presence and discussing how to rebuild international relationships.

Democrats Abroad (DA) Progressive Caucus Co-Chair, Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA) Representative, and Former DAJ Vice Chair Gordon Gaul informed the forum of different organizations approach to fixing democracy, getting money out of politics, and the different approaches each of them are taking.

Tsukuba-based activist Cheryl Okubo gave a real-life look at the issue of Climate Change and what people can do better in not just policy, but their own lives to improve this issue.

Former International DA Counsel and Form DAJ Chair Tom Schmid finished off the discussion with a talk on the history and way forward for the Supreme Court.

Current DAJ Chair John Baumlin facilitated the discussion for these topics. In kicking off the DAJ platform discussion, he gave a public initiative to all chapters and members of DAJ to send feedback to the DAJ Executive Committee for 2020. 

Important 2019 Voting Abroad Information for KY, LA, MS, NJ, VA Voters

Five states — Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia — will hold General Elections in November 2019 for state executive offices, state legislative offices or both.

Because of the Trump administration’s plan to withdraw from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) treaty mid-October 2019, postal mail from abroad back to the US may experience delays and price increases. To make sure you can successfully cast your ballot in your state's elections this year, the Get Out the Vote Committee at DAJ is recommending voters from these states register to vote and request their ballot IMMEDIATELY.

For more information on how withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union will affect your overseas vote, see http://www.democratsabroad.org/upu.

Urgent information for Louisiana voters:

There is still time to register to vote for the Gubernatorial Primary if you register online (this requires state ID) by this Saturday, SEPTEMBER 21st.

The Gubernatorial Primary will be held October 12th; overseas ballots must be received before October 12th, 8pm CST (Oct. 13th, 10am JST).

Louisiana Online Voter Registration: http://voterportal.sos.la.gov/VoterRegistration

Register and Request Your Ballot: http://www.votefromabroad.org/states/LA

Register and request your ballot now - State by State Information!

For those states that do not allow ballot return using email or fax, please vote and mail back your ballot immediately to avoid any disruption in mail service after October 17th.

Louisiana

Elections: Governor, Lt. Gov, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Senate and State House.

Louisiana voters: For the primary election, register online by September 21, request your ballot immediately, and MAIL it back before October 12. For the general election, contact your election office for permission to use fax to return your ballot.

Primary Election

●Voter Registration: Received by (Online, requires state ID) September 21
●Ballot Request: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Mon, October 11, before 4:30pmCST
●Ballot Return: Received by (MUST MAIL) Tuesday, October 12, 2019, before 8pm CST
●Guber. Primary: Tuesday, October 12, 2019

General Election

●Voter Registration: Postmarked by (MAIL) or Received by (EMAIL or FAX) Tues., October 16 or Received by (Online, requires state ID) Tuesday, October 26
●Ballot Request: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Mon., Nov. 15, before 4:30pm CST
●Ballot Return: Received by (MUST MAIL*) Tuesday, November 16, before 8pm CST
●Guber. Election: Tuesday, November 16, before 8pm CST

*Ballot return by Fax available only by prior arrangement with Local Election Official

Overseas voter eligibility for state elections:
● Intend to return: YES
● Return not certain: YES
● Never resided: NO

Kentucky

Elections: Governor, Lt. Gov, Attorney General and Secretary of State.

Kentucky voters: vote immediately and postal mail the ballot back to your local election office this September.

● Voter Registration: Postmarked by (MAIL) or Received by (EMAIL or FAX) Mon., Oct. 7

● Ballot Request: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Tuesday, October 29

● Ballot Return: Received by (MUST MAIL) Tuesday, November 5, before 6pm

Overseas voter eligibility for state elections:
● Intend to return: YES
● Return not certain: YES
● Never resided: NO

New Jersey

Elections: General Assembly.

New Jersey voters: vote immediately and postal mail the ballot back to your local election office this September.

● Voter Registration: (Request ballot-by-mail) Received by (EMAIL*, FAX* or MAIL) Sun., Oct. 6 or (Request ballot-by-email, fax) Received by (EMAIL*, FAX* or MAIL) Tues., Oct. 15
● Ballot Request: (Request ballot-by-mail) Received by (EMAIL*, FAX* or MAIL) Sun., Oct. 6 or (Request ballot-by-email, fax) Received by (EMAIL*, FAX* or MAIL) Fri., Nov. 1
● Return Ballot: Received by (EMAIL*, FAX* or MAIL) Tuesday, November 5, 8pm

*IF YOU SEND BALLOT BY EMAIL OR FAX YOU MUST ALSO IMMEDIATELY MAIL YOUR BALLOT TO THE BOARD OF ELECTION.

Overseas voter eligibility for state elections:
● Intend to return: YES
● Return not certain: NO*
● Never resided: NO

*Legislation introduced to allow “return not certain” to vote in NJ state elections

Virginia

Elections: State Senate and State House.

Virginia voters: vote immediately and postal mail the ballot back to your local election office this September.

●Voter Registration: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Monday, October 14
●Ballot Request: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Tuesday, October 29
●Ballot Return: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Tues., November 5, before 7pm EST

Overseas voter eligibility for state elections:
● Intend to return: YES
● Return not certain: YES*
● Never resided: NO

*If VA place of abode OR if voter provides the name of an overseas employer for either the voter, the voter’s spouse or the voter’s parent (if the voter is a dependent)

Mississippi

Elections: Governor, Lt. Gov, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Senate and State House.

Mississippi voters should use email or fax to return your voted ballot.

●Voter Registration: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Saturday, October 26
●Ballot Request: No deadline
●Ballot Return: Received by (EMAIL, FAX or MAIL) Tuesday, November 5

Overseas voter eligibility for state elections:
● Intend to return: YES
● Return not certain: YES
● Never resided: NO

Dear DAJ members,

THE 2019 DAJ EXCOM in coordination with the 2019 DAJ NEC would like to announce the revised results of the 2019 national elections.

Votes in the 2019 National officers election were counted on 6/16 and recorded by the NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE, however after inquiry it was discovered that 1 faxed ballot was not counted. For clarification, there was no change to the outcome of the election. Below are the revised results:

Total ballots cast: 51

Total ballots which were complete and where membership could be confirmed: 50

Chair:

Votes for John Baumlin - 50 votes, 100% total valid votes (WINNER)

Vice-Chair:

Votes for write-in candidates

Votes for Kiyoko Ayukawa 36 votes, 72% of total valid votes (WINNER)

Votes for Denise Treuting 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for Gordon Gaul 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for Frederick Gunlach 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for no one: 11, 22% of total valid votes

Secretary:

Votes for Anna Costello - 50 votes, 100% total valid votes (WINNER)

Treasurer: write-in candidates

Votes for write-in candidates

Votes for Dave Brauer – 34 votes, 68% of total valid votes (WINNER)

Votes for Timothy Trahan 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for Jenise Treuting 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for Frederick Gunlach 1 vote, 2% of total valid votes

Votes for no one: 13 votes, 26% of total valid votes

DEMOCRATIC PARTY COMMITTEE ABROAD (DPCA) VOTING REPRESENTATIVE

Votes for Gordon Gaul - 42 votes, 84% of total valid votes (WINNER)

Votes for Kiyoko Ayukawa – 5 votes, 10% of total valid votes

Votes for no one: 3 votes, 6% of total valid votes

Member-at-Large for Eastern/Northern Honshu:

Votes for Elena Morlock - 34 votes, 100 % of total valid votes (WINNER)

Member-at-Large for Western/Southern Honshu:

Votes for Raymond Kunikane Terhune - 5 votes, 100 % of total valid votes (WINNER)

Member-at-Large for Shikoku/Kyushu/Okinawa:

Votes for Rose Turck - 2 votes, 100% of total valid votes (WINNER)

Member-at-Large for Hokkaido: write-in candidates only

No votes

Sincerely yours,

The DAJ 2019 Nominations and Elections Committee

Sarajean Rossitto

Leslie Anne Rogers

Steven Breyak

Jenise Treuting

DAJ2019elections@gmail.com

Making Our Voices Heard 

On July 20th, your Executive Committee (ExCom) at Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) proposed an amendment to the Democrats Abroad Resolution in Support of the Green New Deal, urging the Global ExCom, our state party for Democrats Abroad, to support a Climate Crisis Presidential Debate at the DNC. The amendment was sent directly to the Global ExCom, where it was decided Democrats Abroad as a whole would support a Climate Change Debate on August 11th, 2019. 

Our DA representative, Gordon Gaul, attended the DNC meeting in San Francisco. The Debate Resolution was put up for vote to remove (a ‘yes’ vote) the Climate Debate resolution from the packet of resolutions, or to keep (a ‘no’ vote) it in the set of resolutions the DNC would enact. Our DNC representatives argued passionately in support in keeping the climate debate resolution. 

However, the DNC did not keep the resolution, so we must continue working to make this issue a priority for the party. DA and our representatives watched as Tom Perez, the DNC Chair, declared he would be voting “yes” in favor of removing the resolution, and many followed suit. The prevailing argument made by the majority was that in the past they had too many debates, and if they had a Climate Crisis debate, they would have to have a debate on every major topic, like gun safety or immigration and all the rest.

From my informal discussions with all of you, the Climate Crisis is our top issue, and what you elected us to fight for when you selected us as your representatives in June. Are more single issue debates truly a bad thing? Bring on gun safety debates. Bring on immigration debates. Let’s bring these topics to the national narrative, so people can learn about the different policies and ways to solve these problems. Especially when our young people and activists, myself included, so deeply want these debates. 

Moving Forward and Volunteering

In lieu of what happened, CNN held a Climate Town Hall and invited all presidential candidates to attend. The Town Hall format allowed candidates to answer in 30-40 minute intervals, and it was informative and educational. The 1.1 million viewers were far fewer than the 10 million+ expected from the debate format we are fighting for, but hearing each candidate respond substantively to audience questions gave good insight into their plans and characters. Perhaps we should be authoring more resolutions to bring to the DNC for these more educational formats, so we can all truly understand the options and plans being considered by different candidates.

Democrats are inquisitive, hopeful, want to learn - we definitely need to fight this sound byte and social media oriented culture, and ask our party to do more to help educate voters on political issues. Raising awareness is always the precursor to action.  If you’d like to author a resolution, or just become more active, join us on Slack and contribute to making our voices heard. 

One immediate opportunity is participating in the Democrats Abroad party platform development process, starting this fall. I believe we can drive Democratic policy on these issues, setting the agenda for all Democratic candidates. 

Primary Notice 

Straight from the desk of our Global ExCom, the petition platform is now live to get presidential candidates on the ballot for Democrats Abroad. Each candidate will need 300 DA member signatures to qualify to be on the ballot. You can visit the petitions platform and fill one out for your candidate! The primaries for Democrats Abroad Japan have been officially announced, and they will take place at a specified date from March 3 to March 10, 2020. 

After speaking with your members-at-large, our current plan is to have 3 polling locations - one in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. We are also planning alternate ways for people outside of population centers to vote (via Mail or Fax). Remember to make sure you’re a member of Democrats Abroad before the primaries (click Join here on top right) and have a valid passport as we prepare for the Global Presidential Primary. 

Democrats Abroad Japan Fundraising Project

We need funds to pull off this primary, as well as voter registration, and Get-Out-The-Vote activities. It is getting harder and harder to find polling locations as more venues prohibit  political activities. Free, informal locations are not available. 

This will be a big project for us - but the first thing we’ll be asking of everyone is to help fundraise, not just for the primary, but whatever you think is really worth it. Right now we’re collecting ideas on how to spend the funds raised throughout our term. It’s an open invitation to any member! Just join us on Slack in the #fundraising-campaign channel accessible from the channels menu to add to the wishlist, or email your ideas directly to Dave via jp-treasurer@democratsabroad.org. 

Save the Date(s)! DAJ Policy Forum and Upcoming Events

On October 20th, 2019 the DAJ ExCom will be putting together a policy forum that we hope to share with the entire membership. The focus will be an overview of where our American Democracy is at, and the topics that will affect us no matter who the candidate for president will  be. How can we rebuild our international relationships? Rework the Supreme Court? How do we defeat the corporate influence weighing over us since Citizens United? How are we going to reduce carbon emissions and stop our climate to changing to a more and more dangerous world?

These are all things that will affect all of us - and it’s time we all get together and talk about them. More details will come soon, but be prepared to come either in-person or digitally (resources permitting) and join the discussion about our democracy and what we are going to do, here, abroad about it.

There’s lots of upcoming events as well, and if you’re in the capital (Tokyo) on September 15th, be sure to join us for Democracy & Debate day, and we urge Democrats to have debate parties across Japan and start discussing the policies we want our party to have for 2020. 

Democratically Yours, 

John A. Baumlin Jr. - National Chair on behalf of
The Executive Committee:

Kiyoko Ayukawa - National Vice Chair
Anna Costello - National Secretary
Dave Brauer - National Treasurer 

The Kansai Nomination and Election Committee (KNEC) of Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) is proud to call upon our Kansai membership to submit their nominations for the 2019 Kansai Chapter Election. The call for nominations is for the following positions:

• Chair of Kansai Chapter
• Vice-Chair of Kansai Chapter
• Secretary of Kansai Chapter
• Treasurer of Kansai Chapter

If you are interested in holding an officer position, you must fulfill the following requirements in order to qualify:

• Be a member in good standing pursuant Article III of the By-Laws of Democrats Abroad Japan. You can confirm your membership by signing into DemocratsAbroad.org.
• Not be completing a 2^ndconsecutive term for the office in question, as per the term limits set out in our by-laws pursuant to Article X, Section 1: “No National, or Chapter Officer, nor any Members-at-Large can serve more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same position.”
• In the case of running for Chair or Vice Chair, pursuant to Article V, Section 1, “The Chair and Vice Chair shall not be of the same-sex.”

Nomination Procedure

In order to join the election process, members may nominate themselves or another member by sending an e-mail to dajkansainec2019@gmail.com no later than midnight Japan time on August 22^nd. All nomination emails should include the following:

1. Complete name of the person nominated.
2. Contact information including phone number, mailing address, and email address.
3. Name of the nominated position.

The KNEC has enclosed a calendar of the important dates regarding the election cycle so that we can ensure a transparent and fair election process, which can be accessed here. Please direct all questions to the KNEC by email: dajkansainec2019@gmail.com.

We look forward to receiving your nominations!

Sincerely,

Kansai Nomination and Election Committee

Kiyoko Ayukawa
Anna Costello
John Baumlin

Members of the Democrats Abroad Japan Kansai Chapter,

Thank you for participating in the recent Kansai Chapter election. Democrats Abroad aims to host fair and transparent elections and give everyone an equal opportunity for candidacy and voting.

Unfortunately, we regret to inform that the election did not directly follow procedures as described by the Country Committee Election Procedures. Specifically, there were 4 issues.

1. The Kansai Nomination and Election Committee (NEC) consisted of 2 members when the NEC should have at least 3 members. (2a)

2. There was no submission regarding the vote counts and meeting minutes. (1d, 3a, 3m, 3n)

3. The Chair-elect and Vice-Chair elect were not registered members of Democrats Abroad when they ran for office. (5a1)

4. Ballots were not officially distributed to all membership. Ballots were sent out to members on the activist mailing list and made public on the DAJK facebook page, but not through the DAJ website or email. (9d1, 9d2)

Due to these issues, the Kansai Chapter election results cannot be accepted, and the elections will be reheld.

A new Kansai Nomination and Election Committee has been appointed, and we aim to run this second election as smoothly and quickly as possible. On Friday August 16th, we will send out an announcement opening the call for nominations and informing you about the election schedule. The announcement will be set out via email and posted on the Democrats Abroad Japan website. If you have any further questions, you may address them to the committee at dajkansainec2019@gmail.com.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to your participation!

Sincerely,

Kansai Nomination and Election Committee

Kiyoko Ayukawa

Anna Costello

John Baumlin