Crunch time! And Democrats Abroad (part of the 6 million eligible US voters living abroad) are going strong until the last possible moment.
Democrats Abroad have been canvassing on streets and in markets around the world, riding a Road Trip Bus, doing in person voter registration events in 45+ countries around the globe, and calling, Calling, CALLING voters.
But before I get too deep into our Democrats Abroad story:
Do you think that it's too late to send in that ballot that's buried under stacks of mail? Think again! It's not too late.
In fact, in several states you can Fax or Email your ballot, some traditionally mailed ballots only need a postmark of November 5th, or November 6th (see complete list below, and here). So please send your ballot in NOW.
If you didn't get your ballot? You may still be able send a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) right now - so go, stop reading!
to www.VoteFromAbroad.org for more information.
The energy, the fabulous and huge outpouring of support, the massive volunteer effort and will for an Obama victory is in evidence around the globe as US citizens, deeply engaged and profoundly involved in the elections 'back home', rally their fellow voters living abroad. We may live abroad, but we are caring, passionately caring, Americans. Democrats Abroad even opened a field office in London ! Here's some news that just came in from Robert Carolina, Chair of Democrats Abroad UK,
"About 12 days ago, it became clear that the London Campaign Office phone bank had more than saturated all UK-resident members who are voters in Presidential Swing States and close Senate races. (One UK member who votes in Ohio complained about receiving more than 5 calls from our London phone bank.) We also realised that there might be Swing State voters somewhere in the world who had not yet heard the voice of Democrats Abroad on the phone. With this in mind, we approached International leadership for permission to call Swing State voters all around the world from London at least once.
Our first goal was "Operation Call Every Ohio Voter in the World at Least Once". We reduced the Ohio call list a little bit, because we had already helped a few country committees complete their Swing State calls. We began with the lofty goal of trying to make a call attempt to every DA member outside the UK who votes in Ohio before election day. As it happens, we worked through about 50% of that list in 24 hours.
Then a funny thing happened. Our volunteers started to get REALLY excited that we were calling Swing State voters all around the world. One of our technology volunteers then figured out how to expand the number of "international call" phones in our room by provisioning "soft" phones on iPhone and Android handsets. And the volunteers kept coming. A few "super-volunteers" offered to come in early morning so that we could start placing calls to East Asia. As the day moves on, our volunteers follow the sun westwards and call the Middle East, then Europe, and finally the Americas. (Our very sincere apologies to the one voter in Vancouver who was woken up accidentally at 8am local time when someone in our office miscalculated the time zone difference.)
So here's the bottom line. In the last 10 days, volunteers working from the London office have placed tens of thousands of call attempts to DA members outside the UK who are Swing State voters. They have completed a FIRST call attempt to DA members who vote in NINE Swing States, and SECOND call attempt to those who vote in Ohio and Iowa - in each case before their Ballot Request deadline. (Sometimes on the deadline date itself.)
We have found many people who report they had "already voted", and we also found many who had either not requested or not returned a ballot. But we called them all. The volunteers continue to plough ahead, and we have just set our priorities for calls to be made on Monday and on Election Day."
Rob Carolina goes on to thank our amazing Democrats Abroad volunteers for taking up this unusual opportunity to make the calls, and to make such a difference by helping their fellow overseas Democrats to vote.
We may live abroad, but we care just as deeply about what happens to our beloved nation as everyone living at home. And we here at Democrats Abroad are keeping our fingers crossed for a Democratic victory for President Obama, and Democrats in the Senate and the House.
IMPORTANT BALLOT INFORMATION if you Vote from Abroad:
•In several states, your mailed ballot needs a postmark of November 5th (and can arrive after Election Day), including:IL, IA, NY, PA, UT
•In several states, your mailed ballot needs a postmark of November 6th (and can arrive after Election Day), including: AK, AR, CO, DC, FL, GA, IN, MA, MD, NC, ND, OH, TX, WA, WI, WV
•You can fax your ballot in several states, including: AK, AZ, CA, CO, DE, DC, FL, HI, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MS, MT, NV, NJ, NC, ND, NM, OK, RI, SC, UT, WA, WV-You can email your ballot in several states, including: CO, DE, DC, IL, IN, KS, MA, MS, MT, NV, NJ, NM, NC, ND, SC, UT, WA, WV
So please send your ballot NOW. Didn't get your ballot? You may still be able send a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) right now - go to www.VoteFromAbroad.org for more information.