Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café

Two weeks into her job as DA's Director of Voter Protection, Elizabeth Hahn sat down with David and Rachel. She discusses the three things she'll be looking for in the lead-up to the midterms: the obstacles to voting that face Americans abroad, what countries it's most difficult to vote from, and what states it's most difficult to vote in. Liz talks about getting friendly with her volunteer Voter...

Heather Stone is the chair of the Medicare Portability Task Force which is working to ensure that all U.S. citizens have access abroad to their earned benefits.  Citizens who worked in the US, or for US companies, paid into the Medicare system throughout their careers.  Once they begin receiving the Social Security they earned throughout their work lives, their benefit is automatically r...

The Reparations Task Force is looking for Democrats Abroad members who are motivated to jump into the fight for full reparative justice for Black Americans. We are looking for volunteers who wish to support H.R. 40 and all other American reparative legislation at the local, state, and national levels. If you are interested in getting involved in this fight for justice, please send an email to repa...

A tale of intrigue from John Baumlin, former DA Japan chair and newly elected rep to the DNC for DA Asia Pacific. John tells David and Rachel about his knotty five-year quest to re-enfranchise New Jersey voters living outside the country. With gratitude for a silver mine of DA knowledge, and side trips into internet philosophy, and the ins and outs of game translation.

A solid Get Out The Vote (GOTV) campaign is an important part of every election. Request your ballot at www.votefromabroad.org Get general help at info@democratsabroad.org  Get specific voting help at gotv@democratsabroad.org  Send your questions directly to Stephanie at gotv@democratsabroad.ca 

What are Robert’s Rules of Order? Why does Democrats Abroad use them in the AGM? Rob Carolina gives us the history plus the pros and cons.

As Democrats Abroad prepares for an upcoming global meeting, Will Bakker explains the role of the Resolutions Committee (Carol Adamson in Sweden, Farid E. Ben Amor in Japan, Kent Getsinger in Australia, Beverle Lax in Kenya, past chair of the committee Susan Vaillant of France, and Rick Wicks of Sweden). How do resolutions get brought to the governing body? What sorts of resolutions are considered...

Chatting with Dana Freling and Dash Nesbitt from the Environment and Climate Crisis Council.

Jen explains the challenges of coordinating Democrats Abroad across more than 20 countries.

United States citizens around the world are supposed to file their taxes every year but don't do it.

Getting all the details on why the caucus was created and its goals.

A lively and fun discussion about this new caucus that focuses on the rights and protections of Americans with disabilities around the world.

Steve Nardi explains how Democrats Abroad is organised around the world.

"Ballots in boxes!" is the central preoccupation of Democrats Abroad's Vote from Abroad coordinator. Heidi Burch joins David and Rachel to talk about votegfromabroad.org, the non-partisan voter registration portal operated by Democrats Abroad. Heidi outlines multiple reasons for registering via votefromabroad.org instead of directly with your state, what it takes to keep the site up-to-the-minute...

The history of the Global Veterans & Military Families Caucus and the new problem that vets have when trying to use their education benefits around the world.

Understanding the challenges of the Democrats Abroad Global Hispanic Caucus with Carlos Colao, Edgar Lopez and Amerika Garcia Grewal.

Learning the history and the future of the Democrats Abroad Progressive Caucus. More information can be found at https://www.democratsabroad.org/pc Follow the Progressive Caucus Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/prodacaucus/

The newly appointed chair of DA's Global Black Caucus joins David and Rachel to talk about issues, changes, and plans. Overseeing a team of 22 people, Jazz is working to ensure that the GBC is tackling a host of issues with a new deputy structure designed to avoid damage to the team and burnout. Jazz discusses growing issues of advocacy such as reparations and artificial intelligence, as well as t...

Nicholas Gordon, one of the three new Regional Vice Chairs elected to DA's Executive Committee, is David and Rachel's guest. Nicholas represents the Asia-Pacific region, which includes the Pacific Islands; East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia; and Australia and New Zealand. The conversation touches on the diversity of cultures and communities in the area, its growing presence and power in Amer...

Orlando Vidal is the newly elected International Counsel for Democrats Abroad.

With side forays into game design and encroaching thunderstorms, David and Rachel chat with Beth about the role of DA Secretary. Beth shares the perspective of someone who hasn't lived abroad very long, yet has contributed at all four levels of DA (local, country, regional, and now inernational). Beth reveals a passion for dotting i's and crossing t's, and talks about bringing on deputies for Secr...

Quyen votes in Iowa, lives in Columbia, and got swept into leadership in the Columbia chapter after her second DA meetings. Our new International Treasurer shares thoughts about contrasting aspects of her job, from the behind-the-scenes procedural matters to her goals to make DA's financial picture easy to understand and to ensure that members are excited about the numbers. David shares how to acq...

Art tells David and Rachel about the transformation of infrastructure from boring to popular, DA's growth over time, and his own political beginnings at the age of 5. Namedropping both stadiums and people, he talks about the big impact various celebrities have had in helping DA raise its profile worldwide. Complete with a digression into rakia and quinces.

Candice shares her thoughts with Rachel and David about ensuring that DA is understandable and accessible to both its members and its leaders. We talk about what DA's Executive Committee plans to focus on in the lead-up to 2022 and 2024, and about going climate neutral in both policy and operations (including an invitation to DA members to share tips!). And we dip into some of the things Candice l...

Candidates Joshua Van der Ploeg and Orlando Vidal answer seven questions from David and Rachel.  Visit https://www.democratsabroad.org/ for information about all of the candidates running for global office in the May 2021 elections.