As many of you know, Sara, HS, Evan, and Myself are all living overseas. To vote in elections we vote by Absentee ballot back in our home states. I work actively in Democrats Abroad to find Americans and help them through the process of filing the paperwork to get their ballots and mail them back in-- and we work super hard to make sure all this is done early so that our votes get back home in time.
The process used to be hard. Used to be. But in 2004-2006 Dems Abroad launched an online site that makes it easier than ordering sushi in Tokyo! Our big challenge now is finding the Americans who are spread out all over the world, some 7 million of them! And giving them the url and info so they can vote. We do this through ads, regular media coverage and new media campaigns. This year we are trying something new. On Aug. 4th we are launching a video online and working hard from now till then to get the word out.
Check out http://votefromabroad.blogspot.com/ to read all about the video, the shoot, who we are, why we do what we do.
Our votes come into play in all 50 states. And in close elections, esp. in the house and senate-- our margin can be the difference.
One of our members and a DNC-elect representative like myself is leading the charge on this viral campaign. Her name is Caitlin Kraft Buchman and she is a power house. Here is one of her latest entries on our video blog.
While we were taping our upcoming, celebrity viral video (it will be ready for launch on August 4th!), we had a second camera running in another room - just goofing around. In the coming days we'll post some of the clips we got, just to show you who we are, what we're thinking about, and why this election is probably the most important in our lifetime.
We are looking for fellow bloggers, commenters and readers to help get the word out. Help spread our video message when it launches on 8/4. And of course tell everyone or anyone you know who is living abroad about www.votefromabroad.org. We know the mainstream media will not be overly excited to help tell our story. And we have already seen that the Bush and Co. adminstration makes it harder not easier for Americans overseas, including our active military-- to vote.
Millions of Americans abroad, including about 175,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, face chronic timing and technological problems if they try to vote in this fall's presidential election. Troubles that caused low turnout in the past will be compounded by 11 late state-office primaries in September or October, which delays mailing absentee ballots. Efforts to expand electronic voting have slowed because of privacy concerns."It's going to be a harder year for our soldiers and military personnel and others who are overseas," Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said.--By Richard Wolf, USA TODAYThat is why we are out here, getting the word out early and getting our voting requests in now!
Check out www.democratsabroad.org
Request your ballot at www.votefromabroad.org
Keep up with our story as we work to launch our video at http://votefromabroad.blogspot.com/
UPDATE: if you live over seas and can put up VoteFromAbroad flyers somewhere we would really love the help. Download the pdf here and post anywhere that Americans might turn up.
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