AUGUST 2026 NEWSLETTER
“But in this country we have one great privilege which they don't have in other countries. When a thing gets to be absolutely unbearable the people can rise up and throw it off. That's the finest asset we've got - the ballot box.” –Mark Twain
U.S. citizen living abroad? You Can Vote!
Request your ballot be sent to you by EMAIL -- Don't rely on postal mail!
VFA Voter Help: Need help with voting from abroad?
The votefromabroad.org website is your resource for all your voting questions. Need a different time or can't use Zoom? Request an appointment, attend a drop-in Zoom session or email [email protected]. Please use VFA. If you haven’t, you can still make a request through VFA. You will only get one ballot.
Greetings!
Are you ready for the upcoming elections? Be sure that your request for an absentee ballot has been processed correctly. Do not wait until the last minute. U.S. citizens overseas have the right to vote so make sure you use this right! Our right to vote, even from overseas, deserves 100% turnout!
Make sure you know where to find the services you need! The new VA WELCOME KIT VERSION 7.0 – MAY 2026,“designed to assist Veterans at any stage, from transitioning out of military service to navigating civilian life years later, by helping them access earned benefits and services” is now available!
ONLINE: https://www.va.gov, CALL: MyVA411: 800-698-2411, ONLINE GUIDE: https://www.va.gov/welcome-kit
For Education benefits, you must verify your enrollment at the end of each month. For any questions regarding enrollment verification or GI Bill benefits, contact the Education Call Center or use ASK VA. VA is committed to delivering your benefits as efficiently as possible.
VA is excited to implement the VET TEC 2.0 program. This is a new education benefit that was created through the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. VET TEC 2.0 is only for programs in computer programming, computer software, media applications, data processing, or information sciences. You can find out more about the program, including how to apply, on the VET TEC 2.0 webpage. You can find an overview of the VET TEC 2.0 program by watching the VET TEC 2.0 Student Overview webinar.
From The Federal Trade Commission (FTC): the Military Consumer toolkit has been developed to help the Military Consumer Network reach service members, Veterans, and their families. If a Veteran is missing a VA benefits payment, identifies a discrepancy in payments, or finds suspicious activity with their direct deposit account, they should contact VA at 1-800-827-1000. Veterans who suspect they have experienced fraud can find out more and report to the appropriate agency at VSAFE.gov or by calling (833) 38V-SAFE.
Federal law mandates that all federal benefit payments be made electronically. Social Security Administration | Direct Deposit There are two ways to receive your payments: with an existing bank account via Direct Deposit or by Direct Express® Debit Mastercard® If you have not yet updated your file, do so immediately!
Great news from the DA Chair Martha McDevitt-Pugh: Democrats Abroad members and families are now eligible to join the State Department Federal Credit Union (SDFCU), which serves members in the U.S. and abroad. DA members can join with a non U.S. address and most importantly with a non U.S. phone number! Sign up for Banking for Members Overseas Webinar August 6, 2026-12 p.m EDT.
VA Overseas Military Service Coordinators are back! Their next visit in the Kaiserslautern Area will be August 4th and 5th, Kleber Kaserne-building 3213
Take advantage of the opportunity to meet with a rep in person! Let them know you appreciate the opportunity to meet with them in person! Click here to make an appointment.
Our Democracy needs your vote! If you need to be convinced, watch this Daily Beast video from the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Robert Scott and Terese Sarno
DAG VMF Caucus Co-Chairs DA Germany
Contact us at [email protected]
Ready to join our caucus? Be part of the conversation and make your voice heard!
Comic Relief: Don’t forgot how important it is to laugh every day!
Courtesy of Clayjonz
Trump $1 coin breaks norms, raises legal questions : NPR
"They can put Trump on a $1 coin, but can't keep a decades-old promise to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill???" Beatty tweeted. "This Treasury is funding presidential vanity projects."
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century? “…the disenfranchised bloc would be enormous. It would encompass all retirees living on Social Security and pension income, students, caregivers, disabled Americans, and millions of low-wage workers who owe no net federal income tax after deductions and credits. Meanwhile, a small population of high earners would receive up to five votes each—a fivefold multiplier on political power concentrated in the hands of people already holding disproportionate economic power. This is not a new idea—it's an old, discredited one. Tying the right to vote to wealth or tax contribution has a name: ‘census suffrage,’ or property-qualified voting…it was the dominant system for the majority of early modern history. Across much of 19th-century Europe and in parts of the early United States, only property owners or taxpayers above a certain threshold could cast a ballot. The earliest democracies in history, in ancient Greece and Rome, likewise limited voting to property owners.”
FVAP Report to Congress-excerpt
ELECTRONIC BALLOT RETURN SUCCESS RIVALS OR EXCEEDS MAIL RETURN SUCCESS ACROSS ALL OBSTACLE TIERS.
In the 2024 election, absentee voters around the world who returned their ballots electronically generally had more success than those who relied on mail. The only place this pattern didn't hold was in countries facing the toughest voting challenges, where both methods performed about the same. In earlier elections, electronic voting was mostly used in places where mail delivery was especially difficult, suggesting it helped overcome those barriers. This year, however, differences in success rates between mail and electronic voting narrowed across many regions. As a result, voting success looked more similar no matter how absentee ballots were returned, highlighting the growing availability and popularity of electronic returns in 2024.
Even as electronic ballot return becomes more common, many absentee voters continue to rely on mail. In 2024, just over three in five voters (62 percent) with the option to return their ballot electronically did so. This choice reflects a mix of factors, including voter demographics, personal preferences, perceptions of mail versus electronic voting, differences in state policies, and potential lack of awareness of electronic options, even among successful absentee voters.
67 percent of active duty military members were registered to vote in 2024 compared to 70 percent in 2020 – a decrease of around 3 percent. Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of active duty military members are eligible to vote absentee under UOCAVA because they live 50+ miles from their voting residence.
When adjusting for demographic differences between Service members and civilians (age, sex, education, etc.), the military voter registration rate decreased by 3 percentage points from 2020 to 2024, while the 2024 election registration rate for eligible civilian voters in the United States only decreased by 1 percent.
While military voter participation rates in both 2020 and 2024 were substantially lower than voting rates for civilians, the 24 percent gap between the two remained fundamentally the same between 2020 and 2024, as participation for both groups dropped by four percent in 2024.
In line with historical patterns, 2024 continued to reveal higher interest and participation in presidential elections than in midterms. Fewer active duty service members reported interest in voting in the 2024 presidential election compared with 2020, declining from 67 percent to 64 percent. Participation also fell over the same period, from 49 percent to 45 percent. Because the decrease in participation roughly mirrors the decline in interest, this suggests the changes in 2024 service member turnout were driven more by personal choice than by barriers to military voting.
Further analysis of voting interest for active duty military found that in 2024, 60 percent of military members who did not vote said it was because of lack of motivation, having chosen the "I did not want to vote" survey response option. While this is a slight increase from 2020 numbers, results are still in line with 2020 outcomes.
There are many reasons motivated military non-voters did not cast a ballot. Some lacked procedural information about how to complete the absentee voting process. Others experienced challenges with the process itself that they were unable to overcome. Difficulty requesting a ballot, absentee ballots that did not arrive, and general confusion about the process were among the most frequently mentioned difficulties among would-be voters.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
2026 Election Calendar: Primary and General Election Dates
U.S. Senate: 35 states, Governor: 36 states, U.S. House: 50 states
August 1ˢᵗ: Guam (T), Virgin Islands (T)
August 4ᵗʰ: Kansas (S), Michigan (S), Missouri (S), Virginia (S), Washington (S)
August 6ᵗʰ: Tennessee (S)
August 8ᵗʰ: Hawaii (S)
August 11ᵗʰ: Alabama CD 1,2,6 & 7 Special Primary, Connecticut (S), Minnesota (S), Vermont (S), Wisconsin (S)
August 18ᵗʰ: Alaska (S), California CD 14 Special General, Florida (S), Wyoming (S)
August 25ᵗʰ: Georgia CD 13 Special Runoff, Oklahoma(R)
September 1ˢᵗ: Massachusetts (S)
September 8ᵗʰ: New Hampshire (S)
September 9ᵗʰ: Rhode Island (S)
September 15ᵗʰ: Delaware (S)
S- State Primary; D-District Primary; T-Territory Primary; R- State Runoff (if necessary) *Dates subject to change.
AUGUST EVENTS
AUGUST is Antiterrorism Awareness Month
Register to vote to combat terrorism!
August 1– DA Netherlands World Pride Amsterdam Canal Parade
August 3-10 – Military Spouse Voters Week
August 4 – Coast Guard Day
August 6 – U.S. Banking for Members Overseas Webinar 12 pm EDT
August 7 – Purple Heart Day
August 10 – Agent Orange Awareness Day
August 10 – U.S. Department of Defense Birthday
August 13-15, 1961–1989 The Rise of the Berlin Wall
August 14 – Navajo Code Talkers Day
August 16 – National Airborne Day
August 29 – Marine Corps Reserve Birthday
Upcoming DA Activities September 26, 2026: DA Germany’s OKTOBERFEST [email protected]
September 28-October 4 – Absentee Voters Week
RETIREE APPRECIATION DAYS 2026
Contact the base VAO offices in your area to volunteer, as private citizens, to register voters.
• USAG Stuttgart - 31 August 2026
• USAG Bavaria - 3 September 2026
• USAG Rheinland-Pfalz - 10 September 2026
• USAG Italy (Vicenza) - 15 September 2026
• USAG BENELUX (Brunssum) - 18 September 2026
• USAG BENELUX (SHAPE) - 19 September 2026
• USAG Ansbach - 23 September 2026
• USAREUR-AF hosted by USAG Wiesbaden - 3 October 2026
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Fraud alert: Beware the “Veterans Savings Program” postcard scam
The Army is cutting back legal help for soldiers fighting medical discharge
Donahue steps down as Army Europe headquarters shrinks to 3 stars
Book bans Massachusetts: House approves library, school protection bill. What's next? Lawmakers in the State House overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at shielding public and school libraries from the book-banning efforts that have swept the nation.
READ ACROSS AMERICA–Books to Help Students Explore Our Democracy
Being part of a democracy means accepting the responsibility to speak up, show up, and work for positive change in your neighborhood, your nation, and the world. The books in the link help bring that responsibility to life, highlighting those who marched, organized, voted, and refused to be silenced, as well as titles that explore our rights and freedoms, equity and equality, diversity and respect, and the ongoing collective work of building communities where everyone belongs. Spread the word that reading is useful and fun and an important part of our Democracy!
Are Educators’ Social Media Posts Protected by Free Speech?
Becoming Medicare-Eligible | TRICARE
The Hidden Shift At 65: How Military Retirees Transition From Tricare
TRICARE Turning 65: Medicare Transition Guide (2026)
Long-serving transgender service members seek retirement benefits in court challenge President Donald Trump in January 2025 signed an executive order that reversed a Biden-era policy allowing transgender troops to openly serve.
‘Honoring veterans and their families’: Lawmakers hear about the upkeep, support of national veteran cemeteries The VA covers a portion of the costs for burials, funerals and plots but does not pay for professional services, caskets or obituaries. The VA offers online information that outlines burial benefits and steps that family members need to take to apply for resources and assistance...The commission also launched the ABMCFlowerProgram.com, which enables loved ones and supporters to purchase flowers for service members buried or memorialized at ABMC sites…
SUPPORT DA GERMANY’s GOTV EFFORTS
Your monetary donations to Democrats Abroad Germany stay in Germany and are used exclusively to organize and get out the vote among U.S. citizens.
Request your absentee ballot for 2026. Help us increase overseas voter participation!
Have you reserved for OKTOBERFEST on September 26th? There is still time! Contact the planning team at [email protected]. Have some fun while you help DA Germany raise funds for voter outreach!