Posted on 09/13/2004 2:36:20 PM PDT by JeffAtlanta
From Electoral-Vote.com: I have it on good authority that overseas voters are registering in huge numbers this time, maybe double or triple 2000. I was told that the number of people who showed up at the Democratic party caucus in England earlier this year was 10 times what it was in 2000, ditto in other countries. Americans overseas vote in the state they last lived in, even if that was decades ago. There are about 7 million overseas Americans and probably about 5 million are over 18. In Florida, it was the overseas absentee ballots that swung the election. I believe that something like 8% are military, but the rest are students, teachers, artists, government workers, business executives, spouses of foreign nationals, missionaries, retirees, and more. What is significant here is that these people represent a lot of votes and are not included in any of the polls. Nobody knows if they are largely Democrats or Republicans, but their votes could be one of the big surprises of this election. if anyone has any actual data (as opposed to speculation) on this group, I'd be interested.
I personally think it is BS....
I also think the number of voters overseas is well more than 8% military...maybe more like 80%
this is also from a site that has Kerry projected to be the electoral winner too, when no one else does....
I'm sure that will be offset by the massive domestic illegal immigrant voting block that Dubya believes will vote for him.
Yeah, I agree. Could that 7 million overseas US citizens figure be right?
Historically the overseas votes have tended GOP. At least that is what most commentators I have heard say up to now.
I just saw a report about military voting. It stated that the military voting rate is around 70%. They went on to say that the actual numbers of military voters is higher than Alaska, Delaware and a couple of other states combined.
The DUmmies are convinced that all these new voters will actually show up and vote for Kerry. If they do, he could win.
Personally, I have a hard time believing that Kerry will motivate very many people who have never shown up to vote before in their entire lives to come out and support him, but we won't know for sure until November 2.
No, it's ours.
The economic background of those living overseas tends to be either upper middle class or military.
Both are traditionally good demographics for Republicans.
Worrisome. One hopes there are sufficient checks to ensure that all of the people "registering" are in fact citizens with the right to do so. However, one would not bet on this, if one were smart.
KLOSTERNEUBURG, Austria - Rubber ducks scribbled with the names of John Kerry and George W. Bush bob and swirl down a babbling brook in this Vienna suburb.
"Go, John, go!" shouts a group of American expatriates, some using hockey sticks to give the Kerry ducks a helpful slap downstream. Not surprisingly, the Democrat wins by a waterslide.
The Federal Election Commission wouldn't approve. But the Austrian chapter of Democrats Abroad says the mock race achieved its aim: to awaken the 7,000 Americans in Austria to the approaching U.S. presidential election, and get eligible voters to register.
Mindful of the recount fiasco that put Bush in the White House four years ago, Democrats and Republicans everywhere from Hong Kong to Hungary are aggressively targeting American expatriates, whose absentee ballots could prove decisive in a tight race.
With an estimated 3 million U.S. citizens of voting age living overseas, "We're like the 51st state," said Katie Solon, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native and Democrats Abroad volunteer in Austria. "We're riding a wave of renewed interest."
Strong anti-American sentiment overseas is driving U.S. citizens to register to vote, and both Democrats and Republicans could benefit. On the GOP side, a backlash against the anti-Bush fervor has attracted Republicans, while dismay over Bush's stewardship is getting Democrats who haven't voted for more than 30 years.
Republicans, who claim to dominate the overseas vote by a 3-to-1 margin, are mobilizing to ensure him a second term.
"It's difficult to be an American abroad now with the hatred around the world for the U.S. government and President Bush," said Stephen O'Connor, who runs Republicans Abroad in Hungary, where an estimated 20,000 Americans live. "You need thick skin to be an American."
"What we're seeing, all of us, is this malaise, this feeling of anti-Americanism," said Nancy Galan, chairwoman of Republicans Abroad in Italy, home to an estimated 60,000 Americans of voting age.
Eileen Wilkinson, of the Rome chapter of Democrats Abroad Italy, said people have signed up "who haven't voted since Nixon in 1960 or McGovern in 1972."
In Hong Kong, Republicans Abroad is getting daily inquiries from the 50,000-strong U.S. expatriate community, vice chairman Mark Simon said. Bush's narrow victory over Al Gore in 2000 has driven home the message that every vote matters, he said.
Canada, Mexico and Britain have the world's biggest American communities. Fourth is Germany, with roughly 250,000, and party activists are trying to draw interest with visits by former Vice President Dan Quayle and Kerry's sister, Diana.
"We have 33 Senate races that are going to decide who controls Congress," said Ronald Schlundt, chairman of Democrats Abroad Germany. "Bush is almost certain to win Alaska, but it looks like a Democrat might win the Senate seat there. I registered someone from Alaska the other day."
Overseas voters can find it a hassle to get absentee ballots from their home states, and traditionally haven't played a key role in past presidential elections. Turnout in 2000 was 37 percent among expatriates, compared to 51.3 percent overall.
No one knows just how many Americans abroad intend to vote this time, since the party groups can only give them registration forms to mail to the U.S. county where they voted last.
But election fever runs strong. Democrats Abroad Thailand recently revived itself after lying dormant for 16 years. It now has chapters in Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai, and has participated in conference calls with Kerry and former presidential hopefuls Howard Dean, Wesley Clark and Dennis Kucinich.
"The response has been incredible," said the group's head, Gary Suwannarat.
Peter Kropp, a suburban Washington, D.C., native who works for a cosmetics company in Belgium, didn't vote in 2000.
He registered this year, he said, because he disagrees with the Bush administration's handling of the economy and the gay marriage issue - "and because I'm tired of always having to apologize for American behavior."
God bless our troops wherever they may be.
possibly....figure there are about 4 million overseas military, government civilians, embassy personnel, contractors and their assorted dependents
there is also this, if they are voting from overseas, that means it is by absentee balloting. Absentee balloting is only used when the elections are close, i.e. within 1 or 2%....
If you are a military voter overseas, you can register in Pa or Fla or anywhere you want. Please pick a battleground state like those two if possible and vote where you will definitely make a difference. And vote EARLY!
Actually this is untrue, knowing what we know now. The Daily News revealed that 46,000 New Yorkers also illegally voted twice--in Florida--in 2000. Considering that Gore won NY by nearly 70% yields approx 32,000 fraudulent votes for Gore in Florida. Therefore Bush did not win by 587 votes, but rather 32,587 odd votes. In other words...it wasn;'t even close!
Overseas votes have favored the GOP because of the military vote except for Israel which favors dem's, but this year the dem's are trying to get anyone who was born in he US and lives abroad to vote against. Hell they held a Kerry voter drive in Kabul a few weeks ago. What will be interesting is how many are actually American citizens. If Dem's would sign up non-citizens to vote here, what's to stop them from signing up others overseas
I hope there is some way to verify every one of these voters. I don't trust Dems.
Very large concentration of expats is in Israel, I believe.
That should be great news for Bush!
Doesn't matter how many are registered.They have to vote.Their have been no reports of large scale request for absentee ballots.If they are first time voters they will probably miss the deadlines.
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