Vote From Abroad Campaign Blog

We're a hit!

2008-08-06T05:19:00.002-04:00

So did you watch the video?

You and 200,000 other people!

Here are the stats:

* 200,000 views in 2 days.

(Don't rely on the YouTube counter-- you need to add in all the hits from the Daily Telegraph and PerezHilton, too.)

* New voters registered in more than 100 countries, voting in 48 different states.

(The only ones we're missing are North Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma. Plains-states voters where are you?)

* A squidgillion press items and reports reaching voters of all ages.

If they didn't read about us in the IHT, on CNN or on the AP wire, they can find us in Glamour Magazine and Marie Claire.

Check out the list of delicious bookmarks in the right column to read what they're saying about us!

Gwyneth and the gang are here! Let's do this !

2008-08-04T14:35:00.000-04:00

Our viral video directed by the wonderful Jaci Judelson is here --
starring a cast of Democratic characters including the magnificent
Gwyneth Paltrow!

Watch it -- again and again! We need major YouTube numbers in order to
make this a viral hit. and get the word out. ..And find those missing
overseas voters in their masses.

Send it to all your friends, put it on your Facebook page, blog about
it. Let's get this ball rolling!

Gwyneth is voting in London. Where on Earth will YOU vote????

Vote From Abroad -- today!

Where on Earth Will YOU vote? LAUNCH tomorrow

2008-08-03T12:30:00.000-04:00

Our viral video "Where on Earth will YOU vote?" (with special guest star!) officially launches tomorrow on Monday, August 4, that is when we begin our "Virtual Search Party" !!! to find the hundreds of thousands – some believe millions! -- of missing overseas voters.

We know the missing voters are out there, lost somewhere between Toronto and Timbuktu, and they are not casting ballots.

Help! Join our Virtual Search Party on August 4th: Watch the video! Watch it again!
Send it to everyone you know -- Everyone!

Please, please, please commit to putting the video on the front page of your blog on Monday! We need to make this a huge YouTube viral hit in order to find hundreds of thousands (or millions!) of missing overseas voters.

While your waiting, here's our last silly clip from the green room of our video shoot in Paris. This one from Scarlet and Asha. Says it all really!

Myths "Leave me alone! One vote can't make a difference."

2008-08-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

Wrong! Just take a look at recent election results.

Florida 2000: George W. Bush "wins" the state by a margin of 537 votes.

Washington 2004: Democrat Christine Gregoire becomes Governor by just 129 votes.

Ohio 2006: The race for a seat on the Erie County Democratic Committee ends in a dead tie.

Believe us -- every vote matters! Engage and help us find all those missing overseas voters!

Where will YOU do it?

2008-07-31T12:00:00.000-04:00

With the help of VoteFromAbroad.org, you can request your ballot anywhere. And you can do it with anyone.

Where will you do it? Here's a mini-clip of our dear Celeste. (It has nothing to do with the super viral video launching on August 4th with our special celebrity guest, but we love Celeste so much we thought we'd share it -- just to tide you over until the 4th!)

Celeste "With My Boss"

Myths: " I don't have a US address anymore!"

2008-07-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Can I really vote? Yes you can!

"But I don't have an address in the US anymore."
Doesn't matter. The last place you lived will always be your legal voting address. Even if the knock it down and build a freeway. That's your voting address as long as you live overseas.

"But I've been gone for so many years."
So what. You are a US citizen and you will always have the right to vote for Federal offices. Forever.

"But I never registered to vote in the US."
No problem. Your ballot request form doubles as a voter registration form.

Just answer the questions at VoteFromAbroad.org, print out the form, sign it and send it off to the address provided.

No more excuses. Sort it out today.

Myths: "Cut me some slack! I registered last time."

2008-07-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

Not good enough! You should definitely request a ballot every election year.

True, Federal law now states that a ballot request is valid for 4 years. And true, some states - like California - allow permanent absentee registration.

But bear in mind... our overseas ballots are administered by 3,000 different local election authorities (count 'em! 3000!) and each one has its own understanding (or misunderstanding) of the law. Better safe than sorry -- send a new ballot request every election year!

A virgin voter. And an oh-so-experienced director.

2008-07-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

My Mom's American, but I grew up abroad.

OK, you got us. Overseas voting is easy, but there's one grey area. And this is it: children of US citizens who have never lived in the US.

A number of states -- 17 at last count -- clearly allow such children to vote using the last address of their American parent(s). The rest of the states are silent. They don't say one way or the other. So, what should you do?

Go to VoteFromAbroad.org and request an absentee ballot using the voting address of your American parent(s). In the comments section, explain your situation. Wait a couple of weeks and call to see if they received and accepted your request.

If they refuse it, let us know. Recently, one such voter was refused a ballot in New Hampshire. Democrats Abroad stepped in and New Hampshire has now changed its policy!

Here's another silly clip we shot alongside our upcoming viral video (which will be ready for launch on August 4th!).

Sheppard Pepper is American, but he grew up in Paris. He just turned 18 and will be voting for the first time... from abroad. If you like his clip, give him a poke!

Shep is the son of our award-winning Director, Jaci Judelson. Jaci has made videos with skateboarder Tony Hawk, jazz singer Dianne Reeves and choreographer Mark Morris. Check out her work for clients like Mercedes. Nokia and Match.com.

Votes where they matter most

2008-07-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

Every overseas voter sends a ballot back to the last place s/he lived in the States. Did you know that four of the biggest swing states are among the top ten with overseas voters?

Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. That's where this election promises to be closest. And that's where a huge chunk of our overseas ballots are going!

Check out the Electoral Vote Predictor for the best compilation on the Net of all the latest polling data -- state-by-state and updated daily.

Who are we?

2008-07-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

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.

Celeste, what did you do last Saturday?

The truth about absentee ballots -- they count!

2008-07-23T18:33:00.000-04:00

Living abroad, absentee ballots are a pain in the butt - but they're all we have. And they DO count.

Too often, we hear "Oh, they don't even count absentee ballots unless it's close." WRONG! Every ballot validly cast is counted. That is a fact. Your vote will count whether you cast it in Paris, France, or Paris, Texas.

OK, so it's true that a victor is usually called before every last vote has been tallied. But that's true for hometown voters, too! On election night, the networks are naming winners with just a small fraction of votes counted. Absentee ballots are all counted before an election result can be "certified". Remember the Florida fiasco? The vote count must be certified by the Secretary of State before it is official. That is the law.

Your vote WILL count. And if it's a very close race, the whole world will be waiting to know how YOU voted.

Here's a list of states and when they count their absentee ballots.

Uh... What is VoteFromAbroad???

2008-07-21T13:12:00.000-04:00

VoteFromAbroad.org is a website (duh!) that guides Americans through the process of requesting an overseas absentee ballot.
It simplifies a process that can otherwise be long and complicated - with many potential pitfalls along the way!

In a word, VoteFromAbroad.org is the easiest, most comprehensive solution to the complexities of overseas voting. (Okay, so that was 11 words.) Every state has its own specific rules - as we all found out in the 2000 election!

VoteFromAbroad.org means that at last you don't need anyone to hold your hand. Do-it-yourself overseas voting is here!

Full disclosure: VoteFromAbroad.org is a public service provided in English and Spanish by Democrats Abroad -- but it is open for business to all Americans living overseas, regardless of party affiliation. Because we believe exercising your rights is not a partisan sport

Viral Video Shoot in Paris Picture Set (Embeddable)

2008-07-16T08:35:00.000-04:00

De Vote From Abr...

100+ pictures with embeddable links in this gallery:

Vote From Abroad Campaign Blog

Thibaut Thomas is the Social Media Consultant on this campaign, he is currently sitting next to Caitlin in Paris.

Welcome Netroots Nation !

2008-07-16T06:25:00.000-04:00

If you are reading this, you probably heard about us at Netroots Nation.

Some of us are with you there, like Lauren Shannon, my fellow DNC member-elect, in from Tokyo. Or the completely fabulous Parag Mehta who will be speaking at a session or two, in from Washington. Some of us are sitting at homes and offices around the world glued to our computers following the Netroots Nation confabulation online.

Our VoteFromAbroad community campaign, to find the hundreds of thousands of missing US voters worldwide through viral videos, has just begun.

You can find pictures of our July Viral Video shoot in Paris, (video to be launched August 4th), below. A Behind the Scenes video of the Parisian shoot will be posted next week.

More than anyone, you know the power of the blogosphere.

We are sure you will find this story compelling. Blog about it, spread the word, and make the video a huge hit.

I'm currently overseeing the editing of the video in Paris before going back to Geneva.

Why are we doing this ?

2008-07-13T09:10:00.000-04:00

Millions of US Citizens live abroad. A small fraction of them vote.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of missing US voters overseas don't know they have the right to vote, don't know how to exercise their right, or believe the process too complicated to vote from abroad. Successfully reaching out to these occasional, and first time, voters is a new and critical piece of the Get Out The Vote puzzle. (For example, two hundred and twenty thousand, that is 220,000!!!!! U.S. university students, primarily first time voters, will arrive and study internationally in September 2008.)

You may be aware that in 2006, through our paradigm-shifting web tool, (I like calling it that, because I think it is, and I like it so much I am going to say it again), through our paradigm-shifting web tool, VotefromAbroad.org, Democrats Abroad helped deliver the ultra-slim margin of victory that sent Jim Webb of Virginia to the US Senate, giving Democrats a one-vote majority in the Senate.

In 2008, we hope to do even more. We have to.

VoteFromAbroad Viral Campaign Starts Next Week !

2008-07-13T08:33:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone!

We are so excited! We are starting the official VoteFromAbroad.Org viral video campaign next week! And we want you to be a part of it !

This blog is the place to find all the things necessary to blog, or write about our campaign - it is your VoteFromAbroad.Org viral toolkit! It will supply artwork, tidbits, photos, making of videos, YouTube clips, and ultimately the REAL VoteFromAbroad.Org video.

We shot an amazing VoteFromAbroad.Org video in Paris on July 7th, (being cut and mixed as we speak), that will be released on August 4th. We have also shot additional moving, funny, inspirational, informational, suggestive, and/or guaranteed to make you smile bits and bobs for YouTube, that will be released over our YouTube channel starting next week when we officially launch our campaign....We also have a great Making Of... video and photo gallery from the original Parisian shoot that will be posted as well.

Subscribe now, and let us know what you think !

Hello !

2008-07-06T19:44:00.001-04:00

Welcome to this blog, we hope to talk with you soon about this exciting campaign !