Thank you for your interest in joining (or refreshing!) your knowledge helping voters and answering general 'switchboard' questions using the Intercom platform. This training session will be required for all new Intercom agents, in addition to the Intercom Quiz once you've completed a training session. 

Q: When will attendees receive the connection details?
A: Attendees will receive the training login information 24 hours ahead of the training session.

Q: Who can attend this training?
A: Member leaders of Democrats Abroad who will be helping answer questions on our Intercom 'switchboard'. All participants must have a signed DA Confidentiality Agreement on file.

This training is limited to 7 participants per session for all attendees to get the best out of each training session, and for individual questions as time allows.

Please email [email protected] if you have questions.

HELP US HELP VOTERS!

Democrats Abroad provides voter assistance to US overseas voters around the globe. Our goal is simple: help people get their ballots and VOTE!  It’s all hands on deck to help at at in-person and online events, and answer questions on our 24/7 voter helpline. 

Already trained?

We’d love to have your help at an event near you – or online! Please contact your local chapter. Go to www.democratsabroad.org and click on "Countries" for contact information.  Or email us at: [email protected]

Want to learn how to assist voters?

Join one of the live trainings listed below, or look at training materials on your own.

VOTER ASSISTANCE ONLINE LIVE TRAINING SESSIONS

Click below to sign up for training sessions.

VOTER ASSISTANCE TRAINING MATERIALS

These training materials  contain all the information you'll need to help your friends, family, and other overseas voters register to vote, request their ballots, receive and return their ballots. Provided in both in both slide and video format):

• Slide deck: Voter Assistance Training 101 - online version (April 2022)  
  
  
• Video: Voter Registration – New Volunteers Training (Nov 2019) [45 mins]
  Hit "PLAY" to get the video started.
  Please IGNORE the card saying "There is no content to view at the moment, either because no content is shared, or because an unsupported media object is being shared."
  
  
• Voting From Abroad FAQs (2022)
  
  
• Slide deck: How To Use a FWAB  

Voting from Abroad: The Basics

Overseas voters need to send in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to request their ballot every calendar year in which we wish to vote. 

Our website, www.votefromabroad.org, makes it easy for overseas voters to fill out and submit that form.  No matter what country we live in or which state we vote in.

You can find state-specific information at www.votefromabroad.org/states (in English or Spanish) or at this webpage: www.democratsabroad.org/2022

Questions about voter assistance? Email us at: [email protected]

Questions about volunteering? Email us at: [email protected]

To begin with, congratulations and thanks to all the outgoing and incoming DA admins – our best worker bees at all levels of our organization!

During this country and chapter election period, we’d like to remind you of some VERY important rules and procedures to follow for the transition from one database or website admin to another.

In a nutshell:

1. ANYONE with access to the database, emailing or website posting MUST be certified.
2. Access is given ONLY by the Helpdesk/IT team and it is absolutely forbidden to give your login to someone else.
3. Infringement of these DA Policies will result in suspension of the country/chapter access.

Steps to become certified (including links to the relevant files or pages):

Action for  -> Country or Region Chair: submit the This is the Form you Need!

Action for -> New admin

1. Complete and upload a DA Confidentiality Agreement
2. Review training slides on the Training Materials page
3. Complete the Certification Quizzes for the tasks you've been assigned to do:

Posted by Elizabeth O'Leary · April 01, 2022 12:00 AM · 1 reaction

MORE (BAD)  NEWS

See this video re a Kentucky anti-choice bill coming from a women doctor and Kentucky State senator:

https://twitter.com/karenforky/status/1505243184263225356?s=20&t=DsWMoXLlFvN3DfqQA46DYQ

Fight for our rights!!!

Remote indigenous Amazon tribe has lowest dementia rates in the world
Contributed by Karen Lee

Researchers working with remote indigenous populations in the Bolivian Amazon have found the communities experience extraordinarily low rates of dementia. The new study follows on from prior findings reporting the same groups display almost no cases of age-related heart disease.

The Tsimane (pronounced chee-MAH-nay) are a unique population of around 17,000 people living in remote areas of Bolivia who have been the subject of much research over the past few decades due to their unusually good health in older age. 

Read more…

Feeling Forgotten as Baseball Gets Back to Business
Contributed by Dan Smith

Senior former baseball player and brother of the infamous Pointer Sisters, of the disco 80s gets lost in the red tape…

Every spring for the past several years, Aaron Pointer has climbed his steep driveway, taken a short stroll down the street and opened his mailbox to find a letter from Major League Baseball. Each time, as he walks back to his home, with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge peeking out over the water, he reflects on the long struggle for this small recognition. And then he tears into the envelope, revealing a check for about $900 and a letter explaining how this payment is not guaranteed to continue next year.  Read more…

 “Wisdom and respect”: what Peru’s forgotten generation can teach us about life and ageing
Contributed by Eric Jackson

Enedina Avilés sits on a rocky ledge surveying the city below. She comes to this spot every evening after spending the day earning a living peeling garlic cloves. “This is her moment of meditation,” says Peruvian photographer Alex Kornhuber.

Avilés’s home, a wooden shack with no running water or electricity, is perched on a hillside on the southern outskirts of Lima. She lived in the mountains for most of her life but moved to the city seven years ago after visiting her son and finding a small patch of land where she could build a house.

Peru had the highest death rate per capita in the world, a result of a desperately ill-equipped health system, lack of medical supplies, overcrowded housing and a huge informal economy. Many older people had no choice bux^t to continue fending for themselves. “I met one man with a walking frame. He was 88 but lived alone and had to go out to buy food and medicine,” says Kornhuber.   Read more…