Voting Abroad in Our Very Own Global Primary Next Week!

At first glance you might think that this week’s French Tease is just for our American readers, but think again: like it or not, an election in the United States affects us all. So non-American readers, read on; then pass along this information to your American friends so that they can let their voices be heard.

I should preface the rest of the article by saying two things: first, you will notice that this piece is slanted to the left. There’s a reason for that (and it’s not personal). The reason is that in the United States the Democratic Party and only the Democratic Party reserves delegates to its national convention for Americans living abroad. As the “51^st State”, Democrats Abroad gets to send twenty-two voting delegates to the convention. Republicans Abroad does not do this. So if you consider yourself to be in the Republican camp and you read this article and find the idea of a global primary to be interesting and something that you wish you could participate in, then I urge you to contact Republicans Abroad to express your support for a global primary so that they can lobby their party officials to institute a similar system for the next election. So I wish this piece weren’t so slanted in the interest of journalistic yada yada, but it is.

Second, since this only comes ‘round once every four years and since this year—I think we can all agree or secretly admit, depending on how you feel—is especially important for Democrats, please spread the word. Forward this week’s newsletter, copy and paste the link for this article and e-mail it to every American you know who lives outside the U.S. Keep in mind that this election is open to all U.S. citizens abroad, including those who have dual nationality. Because you can have U.S. citizenship simply by being born there, I even have some French neighbors who have U.S. passports hidden in their sock drawers. They would love the opportunity to vote in the U.S. even if they don’t want their French relatives to know they’re actually American. This article applies just as much to them, as well.

The Global Primary

On this year’s Super Tuesday on February 5 (also being called Super Duper Tuesday; maybe here we can call it the Hyper Archi Tuesday), those of us who live abroad can participate in the Democrats Abroad global primary. In March, twenty-two delegates will be chosen in Brussels to represent these votes at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Why Vote in the Global Primary?

First and foremost, the main reason to vote in the global primary is to make your voice heard. Depending on how long you’ve lived outside the U.S., you may or may not be aware of how differently we are treated by our own country simply for living overseas. There are dozens of issues, from citizenship (did you know that if you remain outside of the U.S. and have children, your children may not actually be U.S. citizens and chances are even greater that their future children will never be eligible for U.S. citizenship?) to taxation (come on, we come from the only industrialized country that taxes its citizens regardless of residency) to the upcoming REAL ID issue (don’t even get me started on that—it has the potential to require all of us to fly back home to get an identity card issued by our state of residency and, uh, we have no state of residency, do we?).

What does your global primary vote mean for all of these issues? It shows the U.S. government that these issues do not affect simply a few hundred or a few thousand Americans abroad. It shows them that these issues affect millions of us. The more who vote, the stronger our voice. Our own government is largely clueless as to how many of us there are. If we can come together and vote in a block, then our voices will begin to be heard. This is why I urge Republicans living abroad to demand that their party also conduct a global primary. “The more the merrier” is always true for any party.

Second, you should vote in the global primary because it’s more likely to actually be counted. Remember Florida’s little problem a few years back? Do you really believe your absentee ballot was counted? Further, if you’ve lived outside of the U.S. for a really long time, I’m willing to bet that your voter registration file back home has been deleted. Mine recently was and this took me by surprise. A few weeks ago, I got a letter in the mail stating something like “Mrs. Coyne, we just noticed that you no longer live in our state and we can’t figure out why you’re still registered here as opposed to your new home state of VAL-DE-MARNE.” Yikes. We’re supposed to have the ability to vote in our last state of residence. Time is not supposed to negate that. So I’m going to vote in the global primary and re-register back with my last home state, explaining yet again that yes, I’m supposed to be registered to vote there.

Third, the global primary is online. How cool is that? C’est hyper archi cool. I wonder if that means I can vote over and over and over again like I do when I rate MSNBC.com’s photo of the week? (I’m only joking.)

How Can you Vote in the Global Primary?

The options include everything but carrier pigeon and actual escargots. If you are a member of Democrats Abroad as of January 31, then you can cast your vote online or via mail or fax. If you are not a member by then but join Democrats Abroad on or before February 5, then you can vote in person at the American Church of Paris.

What are the Requirements?

The requirements are simple. You don’t even have to be a registered voter. Here’s what you do have to be: a U.S. citizen, a member of Democrats Abroad (membership is free), at least 18 years old as of November 4, 2008, and declare that you are not also voting in your home state’s presidential primary (you can still vote in any other primaries back home).

Where do I Vote in Person?

If you live in Paris and wish to vote in person (or need to join Democrats Abroad in person), go to the American Church of Paris at 65 Quai d’Orsay on either February 5 or February 12 from noon until 10 p.m.

There are also in-person voting centers in Strasbourg, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice. For information on those centers and for overseas Americans living outside of France, visit the Democrats Abroad website. You can also download a PDF of the voting location list here.