Democrats Invest $300,000 in Registering, Turning Out Voters Living outside United States
The Democrat Party is investing in registering and turning out voters outside of the United States after estimates show some 1.6 million Americans from battleground states live abroad.
According to the DNC, the investment is meant to help “Democrats Abroad.”
Non-military American voters living outside the U.S. include those on business, students spending a semester abroad, and “digital nomads.”
According to data from the 2020 presidential election, 2 million Americans were either on active duty or are military spouses and dependents, and 2.9 million are non-military voting-age U.S. citizens.
According to an Election Administration and Voting survey, just 1.25 million of the 5 million voting-age residents and military living abroad registered to vote in 2020.
However, the Democrats believes that more than 1.62 million voters abroad are from the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
MSN reported:
While military voters turned out 47% in 2020, only 8% of non-military voters living outside cast a ballot in the race between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the non-military turnout in the 2022 Congressional midterms was even lower at 3.4%.
However, Democrats point to heightened interest in Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy and say their effort is to leave no stone unturned.
“This election will be won on the margins, and every single vote counts,” said DNC Deputy Executive Director Roger Lau. “Democrats are leaving nothing to chance, investing heavily with our abroad party to ensure every single U.S. citizen has a voice in this election.”
Martha McDevitt-Pugh, the chair of Democrats Abroad, said there has been a 100% increase in Americans abroad registering to vote and requesting their ballots through their votefrombroad.org website.
“Joe Biden made us feel a little bit disconnected,” said Peter Scardino, a 25-year-old Democrat living in the U.K.
“[Harris] is definitely a lot more of an inspiring candidate. I definitely think that we feel that across the pond with the news that we get.”
McDevitt-Pugh also said that political leanings vary from country to country but lean Democratic for most.
One GOP group, Republican Overseas, directs abroad citizens looking to register to the non-partisan Federal Voting Assistance Program.
The outlet noted:
When the 2022 Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary was heading towards a recount, state election officials cited roughly 6,000 outstanding absentee ballots – including military and overseas ballots – that were still being counted. Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz was declared the winner by just 951 votes. Half of the ballots requested in 2020 from American non-military voters were returned back to battleground states, according to Democrats Abroad. And the abroad ballots counted in Arizona (18,483) and Georgia (18,867) were more than Mr. Biden’s margin of victory, according to a 2020 analysis by the Electoral Assistance Commission. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, most adult U.S. citizens abroad reside in Canada, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Israel. The technical aspect of returning ballots varies from state to state. But overseas citizens primarily used email, while uniformed services voters commonly send their ballots back by mail, according to a review by the Election Administration and Voting survey.
McDeVitt-Pugh said having an infrastructure in place to educate voters on how and when to cast their vote is crucial,
“You need to really get that ballot in early,” McDeVitt-Pugh said, adding that most absentee abroad ballots are sent by Sept. 21, 45 days before election day. “One of the big issues with Americans abroad is they wait too late.”
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