DA Western Sweden will be hosting an online election watch from 2am CET, around the time that the polls begin to close on the East Coast. Stay up and watch the returns come in with us! Then, if you like, you can join the DA Sweden Virtual Election Breakfast, which starts from 5:30! RSVP for details.

Join us for this online event to take stock of where things stand two weeks after Election Day 2020. We'll talk about the election results, review how things went here in Sweden, and discuss next steps.

The link to call in will be posted here shortly before the event.

Grab your coffee and join us for breakfast! Come together with members from all over Sweden to talk about Election Day and hear an analysis of the results. Hop on at any time.

The Zoom link will be posted here before the event begins.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Progressives! It's the home stretch. We're doing all we can to fight the good fight! Don't yet know how this ends... Given all the dirty tricks in the Trumpie playbook - - maybe won't even know on 12 Nov... But maybe we get some big wins and this story leads toward rebirth & redemption! Let's meet up to zooom on and over it (assisted by beer & other substances as indicated). Come one, come all! Progressives all over Sweden! fellow travelers! All are welcome! [This event is sponsored by the Progressive Caucus of Democrats Abroad - Sweden for members and all interested parties... ]

Zoom link: 

Did you know every eligible American living abroad can vote in U.S. elections this year? 

Do you have questions about how to vote? Click the chat bubble at the bottom of this screen and we can help you find the answers.  

Join us October 30th, or any Sunday(24hrs), Tuesday, Thursday & Friday (noon-4pm) and Saturday (2am-10am) till November U.S. Eastern time to talk to a volunteer LIVE on Zoom about questions you have about voting from abroad.
How is it done on Zoom? You'll come into the main room and be paired 1:1 with a volunteer into a breakout room to ensure privacy and that you can get all your questions answered. It couldn't be easier. 

More information: The easiest way to request your ballot is at VoteFromAbroad.org. It takes just a few minutes to complete and send in your form to the US state where you last lived. The website will guide you step by step. In most cases it’s pretty simple. But if you’re new to voting abroad, or if you haven’t done it in a while, you may have additional questions. That’s why we’ll be here to help.

If you can’t make it, you can always email us at helpdesk@votefromabroad.org or send in your question through our online help bubble, and a volunteer will get back to you.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/91090344003

Meeting ID: 910 9034 4003
Passcode: Vote2020

Did you know every eligible American living  abroad can vote in U.S. elections this year? 

Do you have questions about how to vote? Click  the chat bubble at the bottom of this screen and we'll help you find the answers.  

Join us November 1st, or any Sunday(24hrs), Tuesday, Thursday & Friday (noon-4pm) and Saturday (2am-10am) till November U.S. Eastern time to talk to a volunteer LIVE on Zoom about questions you have about voting from abroad.

More information: The easiest way to request  your ballot is at VoteFromAbroad.org. It takes  just a few minutes to complete your form and  send it in to the US state where you last lived. If  you've never voted from abroad, the website will guide you step by step. In most cases it’s pretty simple. But if you’re new to overseas voting, or if you haven’t done it in a while, you may have additional questions. That’s why we’ll be here every Sunday until election day to help.

If you can’t make it any Sunday, you can always email us at helpdesk@votefromabroad.org or send in your question through our online help bubble, and a volunteer will get back to you promptly.

Connection details:
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/91090344003
Meeting number: 910 9034 4003
PassWord: Vote2020

This is an English-language version of an op-ed article originally published in Swedish on etc.se. To read the original, click here. 

There may be nothing more American than the debate about what the United States stands for. The country has had its share of flaws, while also continuing on a remarkable path of long-term progress. That progress has often been a struggle and suffered deep setbacks, like those we are experiencing just a month into the Trump administration. But we have regrouped and begun to organize to defend liberal democracy and our values.

The setbacks remind us that progress is not inevitable, and does not just happen naturally. Instead, progress is actively built by involved citizens, both by those in the United States and also by the millions of Americans who live abroad, many of them here in Sweden.

At the ballot box, through civil society, and by organizing politically, Americans are engaged in what President Barack Obama called the “hard and frustrating and necessary work of self-government”. Since Donald Trump’s election victory, in which he lost the popular vote by more than 2.8 million votes, we have seen the sheer power of what happens when the American civil society kicks into action to protect liberal democracy.

Organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights in the United States like the American Civil Liberties Union have raised unprecedented funds, while millions have demonstrated for what they believe in, and become engaged in the political process. Democrats Abroad, the official overseas arm of the Democratic Party, has signed up thousands of new members and volunteers, including here in Sweden. 

On the day after Trump’s inauguration, more than 150 members of Democrats Abroad demonstrated on Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm (Photo: Democrats Abroad Sweden)

Trump’s ban on travel from a number of Muslim majority countries is unconstitutional and contrary to international law. Because it was originally conceived as a ban on all people of one of the world’s major religions, it is also deeply un-American. Even though it has now been halted by the courts, the Trump administration continues to defend it on the spurious grounds that it will keep the country safe. Now he has announced that he wants to deport millions of migrants, even those who have already become an integral part of American society.

We refuse to simply accept that. On the day after Trump’s inauguration, more than 150 members of Democrats Abroad demonstrated on Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm. When the travel ban was announced, many Americans in Sweden sprang into action. Democrats Abroad volunteers lined up to say they were ready to help those affected, and others went to work organizing legal support, lighting up the phone lines of their elected representatives, and recruiting friends and family to find ways to fight back. Similar stories have poured in from around the world.

That is how Donald Trump’s vision of America will be resisted. But the way we will turn the country toward progress again is through the electoral process, beginning with the midterm elections in 2018. That is why right now Democrats Abroad is organizing citizens and dual-citizens who live in Sweden to help them register to vote, get engaged with the political process, and shape the future of the Democratic Party.

Trump does not determine what America stands for. We will continue to fight for an America that is open, tolerant, and just. Nothing is more American than that.

By Alex Lange, Democrats Abroad Sweden, Stockholm Chapter Chair