September 2026 Brittany Newsletter Archive

Posted by Ruth Miller
September 07, 2026

DA France Brittany Volunteer Coordinator, Member-at-Large, and Brittany Subchapter Development Coordinator

In this issue:

Take Action — Help Us Bring in the Vote
Voting from France — What You Need to Know Now About the Mid-term Elections!
This is How We’re Fighting Back
Holy Shamoley! The Senate!
Upcoming Events
Volunteer Spotlight
In Focus — Education in America
How to Volunteer
The Lighter Side — Voting Parody Songs & Kids' Coloring Pages

Take Action

YOU CAN HELP BRING IN THE VOTE FROM ABROAD: If you are affiliated with a Brittany-Loire-based organization, university, or business that serves Americans, we'd love to partner with you this fall to help Americans register and vote. Please contact Brittany Chapter GOTV Coordinator Martha Le Cars at [email protected] for more information.

You can also contact Martha with any voting questions you may have.

What You Need to Know Now About the Mid-term Elections!

With November getting closer, voting information and voter protection are a major focus of this month’s Community Update.

The Trump administration is actively trying to seed confusion and cause frustration for voters who vote by absentee ballot to discourage them from voting. We are still two months away from Election Day and we anticipate the attacks to continue. While their actions may look chaotic, they are not; this is their strategy. Be aware that Democrats Abroad and our partner organizations are prepared to counterattack future potential administration actions.

The bottom line as of this newsletter edition: NOTHING has changed for UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act), aka overseas voters.

Here are a few practical things to help you through the voting process.

Voting from France

DA France’s updated How to Vote from France guide walks overseas voters through the process, including requesting and receiving your ballot, returning it, tracking it, and getting help if you run into a problem. It also explains the special federal protections available to overseas voters who submit an FPCA, Federal Postcard Application, to request your absentee ballot.

How to Vote from France — DA France

Returning Your Ballot

Ballot return options vary by state. Some voters can return their ballots electronically; others must return them by mail. Return your ballot as soon as you receive it. Click the map to enlarge it, and check your state’s current rules before returning your ballot.

Check Your State’s Rules, Deadlines and Return Methods

If your state requires you to return your ballot by postal mail, DA France has also prepared practical guidance for mailing ballots through La Poste.

Mailing Back Your Ballot: The La Poste Situation

Didn't Receive Your Ballot? There's a Backup.

You should receive your ballot on or before September 19th. If you have not received your ballot by that date, first verify that your ballot didn’t arrive in your Spam folder. Secondly, contact your Local Election Official—contact information is available on VoteFromAbroad.org—to verify that you are registered and did indeed request your ballot for this election cycle.

If you have requested your ballot but are concerned that you may not receive it in time to return it by your state’s deadline, overseas voters have a federal backup: the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB). You don’t have to wait until you receive the official ballot to use the FWAB. You can send both your regular ballot and your backup without worrying that you will vote twice.

This year in particular, EVERYONE is encouraged to use the FWAB as well as their regular absentee ballot.

NOTE: The FWAB will be counted only if your regular ballot is not counted.

Learn About the Backup Ballot (FWAB)

Need Help?

Voting from abroad can get complicated, particularly because every state has its own rules. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

VoteFromAbroad has an excellent FAQ page as well as voter-help volunteers available by email, individual appointment and live drop-in Zoom sessions. The Voter Support page always carries the current session schedule.
Get Live Voter Help on ZOOM
For help specifically from the DA France voter-assistance team, email [email protected]
Call 07 55 53 73 36 (07 555 FRDEM).

How Can You Help?

Phonebanking volunteers are desperately needed. Call our members using a secure, private website to remind them to request their ballot at VoteFromAbroad.org, tell them about deadlines, and share ways they can get assistance.

Want to know more about how to join the effort? Email us.

Texas Voters: Check Your Status!

Texas voters abroad should be aware of the state’s “suspense list.” If you vote in Texas, check the information from Democrats Abroad about what this status means and what you can do to protect your vote.

Texas Voters Abroad: Protect Your Vote from the “Suspense List”

If you are on the “suspense list,” submitting an FPCA will remove you from that list.

And What About the Folks Back Home?

The recent Road to November Town Hall was packed with useful information—not only about protecting the votes of Americans abroad, but about what our friends and family in the United States can do to help protect voters this fall.

So we’ve put together a little:

❤️ Care Package for the Folks Back Home

It includes the Town Hall video and slides, information about the Democracy Protectors election-protection effort, ways people stateside can help protect voters and access to the polls, and reliable voting resources to share with friends and family. PLUS a Democracy Defender coloring page for the kids!

[OPEN THE CARE PACKAGE FOR THE FOLKS BACK HOME →]

This Is How We’re Fighting Back

Most of us hear much more about the attacks than we do about the people stopping them.

States, courts, election officials, voting-rights organizations and ordinary citizens are fighting back every day — and they are often succeeding.

Want some reasons for confidence — and ways you can help?

Open the Care Package and read Section 1: How Democracy Is Being Defended.

And we have a part to play: Vote. Help someone else vote. Volunteer to protect voters. Support the people and organizations doing the work.

The system isn't defending itself. People are defending it. Join us. Volunteer.

Something rather startling has happened to the 2026 Senate outlook.

One current election forecast puts the probability of Senate control at roughly:

Republicans: 52% — Democrats: 48%

That does NOT mean Democrats are predicted to win 48 Senate seats while Republicans win 52. That means Democrats have nearly a 50–50 chance of taking control of the Senate with 51 seats! — Holy shamoley!

Why did the Senate suddenly become this competitive?

Upcoming Events

You can always find our in-person and online events on the Democrats Abroad Brittany events page

September Events

🗳️ September 8 | Rennes | Voter Help

Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 3:30 PM.
Location: downtown Rennes

Study-abroad program for American students. We'll be reaching out to American students with information about registering, requesting and returning their ballots, and voting from abroad.

🗳️ September 9 | Angers | Voter Happy Hour, Midterm Elections

Wednesday at 7 PM
Location: Downtown Angers — RSVP for location

On the agenda: It's time to Take Back Power for the midterms. Learn how to request your ballot, send it in, and send in a backup ballot. Don't miss out on this fantastic chance to connect, have fun, and exercise your rights!
Drinks and food available for purchase.

September 16 | Nantes | La Lutte: Pour les Droits des Femmes aux États-Unis: Hier et Aujourd'hui

Wednesday at 6 PM
Location: La Maison des États-Unis
RSVP: [email protected] and copy Eric Beaty [email protected]

Democrats in France should familiarize themselves with the Constitution and how it protects our rights. Join Eric Beaty for an evening of conversation about women's rights in the past and today. Questions and discussion are welcome!

✨ A Special Invitation from Democrats Abroad France

Some opportunities are worth traveling beyond Brittany — or simply logging in for! We’ll occasionally share special Democrats Abroad France events that we think our community will want to know about.

September 17 | ONLINE | Investing in France as an American: Navigating Two Financial Worlds

Thursday at 7 PM
Featuring Robert Levitt, CFA, Levitt Capital Management. Learn about the overlapping U.S. tax rules, French taxation and European investment regulations that can make investing while living in France unusually complicated. Live event with Q&A: $15. Official recording: $7. Learn more and register.

🗳️ September 18 & 19 | Rennes | Voter Help

3-6:30 PM Friday & 10:30 AM–12:30 PM Saturday
Location: Franco-American Institute in Central Rennes
Help fellow Americans register and vote. Contact Carolyn Campbell to volunteer or for more information.

Need help requesting, receiving, completing, or returning your ballot? Stop by with your questions. We'll help you find the information and resources you need to vote from abroad.

🗳️ September 19 | Clisson | Voter Assistance and Postcarding Event

3-5 PM Saturday
Location: Clisson - RSVP for the location.

Join us for an afternoon of postcarding and voter assistance! We’ll be sending postcards to Democrats Abroad members we haven’t been able to reach by email or telephone, reminding them to request their ballots and vote. All postcarding materials will be provided.

Need help voting? Our voter assistance team will also be available to help you request or return your ballot, answer questions or concerns about recent U.S. Postal Service developments, and guide you through the voting process.

✨ A Special Invitation from Democrats Abroad France

September 24 | PARIS | An Evening with DNC Chair Ken Martin

Thursday at 6:15 PM Event details and tickets.

September 25 | NICE | An Evening with DNC Chair Ken Martin

Friday at 6 PM Event details and tickets.

Hear directly from DNC Chair Ken Martin about the party’s investments and strategies for the November midterms, with Democrats Abroad International Chair Martha McDevitt-Pugh and DA France Chair Ronny Rubin. Space is limited.

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Between now and December, gatherings like this help us stay connected, informed, and ready to act—together.
👉 See details for October and November Upcoming Community Events

Meet Our Volunteers — Ruth Miller

Getting to know the volunteers & members who make our chapter strong.
Ruth Miller — Helping you feel empowered, informed and welcomed

Many Brittany members already know Ruth through newsletters, outreach efforts, social events, volunteer coordination, and what sometimes feels like a constant stream of emails, ideas, QR codes, posters, and community-building projects.

But you ain't seen nothing yet!

👉 Learn more about Ruth and her work

In Focus — Featured Article

Trump and American Education: Cuts to International Enrollments and Research Funding

Gregory Sadlek—Chairperson, Brittany Chapter Democrats Abroad, France

Trump’s significant reductions of visa approvals for international students as well as his cuts to basic research funding damage not only American institutions of higher education but also society at large. In this article we will briefly treat both issues.

Over the course of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the strength of American higher education has attracted increasing numbers of international students. From almost none in 1949, enrollments of international students on American campuses increased to almost 1.2 million during the 2024-25 academic year. These students, attracted by the stellar reputation of American higher education, usually pay full tuition to the universities they attend and, when they have overall good campus experiences, also help increase American soft power. However, the welcoming American academic climate has been overshadowed by a hostile political climate under Trump. The result of this change is significantly lower international enrollments, especially on the graduate level.

Reductions in funding for basic research are just as serious. In disciplines like the sciences and medicine, research is expensive, and most universities do not have the means to completely support their own faculty’s research. For this reason, the federal government, with bipartisan support in Congress, has, through the 20th and into the 21st centuries, provided research grants by means of such agencies as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Although Congress appropriates the funds, the grants are distributed based on the judgments of nonpartisan panels of subject-matter experts. Most of this support is for basic research (research not tied to product development), but the findings of such research often provide the foundation for private enterprises to create new products.

And now — and for decades to come — America is losing the extraordinary scientific talent it spent generations developing.

After America spent decades building the world's leading research system, other countries are now recruiting the scientists it helped create. In August, 21 Canadian universities announced that they had hired 48 top American researchers—many from institutions including Harvard, Yale and MIT. And other countries are doing the same.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE → 👉 Trump and American Education part 2

How to Volunteer

There are countless ways to help and every volunteer strengthens our community. If you’d like to help Americans abroad stay engaged, informed, and ready to vote, we invite you to join us. No prior experience is required — we provide training and guidance, and you can contribute in whatever way fits your schedule.

To get involved, e-mail our Chapter Volunteer Coordinator or fill out the DA France Volunteer Form.

For more information about new Brittany—Loire West volunteer opportunities see our Chapter and Subchapter Volunteer Opportunities 👈🏼

The Lighter Side 😁

WOW! Look at all the Cool Fun Stuff!

🎵 AND 2 (count them!) TWO! CRAZY COOL VOTING PARODY SONGS 🎵

The Raging Grannies 🎵
“What Shall We Do with a Useless Congress?”
Sing it in long voting lines!

🎵 Excellent Musical Parody About Voting 🎶
HOW TO MAKE VOTING SAFER by the Resistance
“Elections are made safer by truth and participation.”

AND also 2 (count them!) TWO! Coloring Pages for Kids!