7-10 million Americans live abroad

So I just got back to my supporter housing, I have to be back at the office at 5AM, and I have DemsAbroad work to do.

I’ve spent 3 of the past 42 hours sleeping, and I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble of waking up to get another one…

I checked and rechecked walk packets and maps all night, so I’m going to do my doorhanging in…an hour and 10 minutes. Then, starting at 8:30 AM, I’ll be in charge of another staging location for canvassing, like Saturday. I’ll coordinate that until the polls close, but hopefully I’ll have some downtime while the canvassers are out doing the packs to write a real post. Doubtful, though, since each turf is painfully small, and will probably come back super quickly.

We’ll see – you also may hear from me Tuesday night once all the polls (including West Coast) are closed and we’re waiting for results. At some point I will be sleeping for a long, long time, so expect some dead air in the near future.

Now, on to DemsAbroad e-mails that unfortunately won’t send themselves.

Unbelievable.

I think I have time for a quick post now, while I’m at the office. It’s been pretty slow – I’m anxious to get back to VA for the all-night lit drop. Thankfully, I found supporter housing near the the field office, so I can work late without having to worry about missing the last train back to DC.

I am ridiculously tired. It’s not that bad when I’m out and moving around in the field, but the minute I sit down to answer e-mails or do data entry, I’m fighting a losing battle. I’ve been getting a little saucy with some of our ruder members, who e-mail Democrats Abroad to blame us because they missed their state’s registration deadline. Confusion is fine – I understand it’s a complicated process, and I’m more than happy to explain what happened and why, but ultimately it is not our responsibility to make sure you’re able to vote. It’s yours. And using caps to yell at me is completely unnecessary.

Okay, I’m done venting. In other news, we heard from two Massachusetts voters today who got their ballots from UPS this morning. Really useful, considering there’s no way those ballots can get back here in time to meet MA’s Nov. 4th deadline. Oh, did I mention the voters also got bills for $90 each for overnight shipping? Which they didn’t request, of course.

That brings me to an interesting issue. A voter from California e-mailed us about this, too. Does having to pay to mail your ballot back to the States constitute a poll tax? I think it does. For voters in countries with unreliable or slow local mail, the best way for them to get their ballots back is to use FedEx or another commercial courier. FedEx did have a program offering reduced shipping rates for ballots, but in most countries the fee was $23.50, not an insignificant amount of money. Lindsey’s said she’s heard of voters paying upwards of $100 to have their ballots back in the States in time to be counted.

In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966), the Supreme Court ruled that poll taxes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Technically it’s not the state charging the voter to vote. But they have to pay all the same. Are there any thoughts from the peanut gallery on this? Psst, that’s you guys.

I wish there was an elections law class I could take at Hunter, that would be amazing. Some of the most important work that goes on here is done by the Election Protection team of lawyers. It also ties in really well with Constitutional law, which I love. Especially the 14th Amendment, it’s my favorite. What, doesn’t everyone have a favorite amendment?

That’s it from me for now – I’m off to VA, will probably be back online around 2 or 3AM. Then at 5 it’s time to head out to drop off more literature reminding people to vote, to hit them as they leave for work. Polls open at 6, will probably be canvassing from 9:30AM until 6:30PM (doing the old “Knock and Drag” – knock on the door and drag the voter to the polls). Polls close at 7, at which point I’ll probably shift over to doing line management, encouraging voters to stay in line, bringing them food, blankets, etc. When the last of them have voted, it’s back to the office to call Democratic voters on the West Coast until the polls close there.

Then….we’ll see.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (”UOCAVA”) is the single most important piece of legislation to Democrats Abroad. It’s our leg to stand on in our constant battle with the states to count overseas absentee votes. UOCAVA is the federal law that says all overseas citizens have the right to vote in federal elections in the last state they lived in. UOCAVA standardized the registration process, so one form, the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is accepted by all the states as both a voter registration form and an absentee ballot request. UOCAVA also created the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, (FWAB) as an emergency back-up ballots that all states must accept if a voter doesn’t receive their official state ballot in time to send it back before the deadline.

Granted, there is a ton of work left to do. There is more than enough room for 51 different sets of rules and regulations about overseas absentee voting within UOCAVA, and some states try to do everything they can to get around it altogether. For example:

Alabama was refusing to accept FWABs, on the grounds that its state laws superseded federal law, and UOCAVA magically didn’t apply to them. Last time I checked, oh, I’d say around the time of Brown v. Board, federal law always trumps state law. Alabama, determined to be difficult, did not give in until we got the Department of Justice involved. I’m sure Alabama’s Republican Attorney General was thrilled to get that call.

All of a sudden, Utah decides it wasn’t going to count ballots from voters living overseas permanently. A woman from Utah called us to say that she had spoken with her county clerk, who told her that she had to sign the Residency Oath on the back of her ballot for it to count. She’s been living in Canada her whole adult life, and obviously doesn’t live at her voting residence. The clerk said if she signed the oath, she would be perjuring herself and her vote wouldn’t count. But if she didn’t sign the oath, her vote also wouldn’t count. The solution after we went to bat for her? Sign the oath – but she had to tell the clerk there was a chance she would come back to the U.S. and live at that address. Which is completely bogus, she’s married to a Canadian, and never plans to come back here permanently.

Cole County in Missouri, according to an e-mail I got from a voter, will not accept all FWABs. When Lindsey called to investigate, she spoke to the head clerk, who told her he’s never heard of UOCAVA, but if she faxes it to him, he might get around to reading it before Christmas. Livid, she tried calling the Missouri Secretary of State, only to be told that they only accept FWABs from voters in “remote locations.”

Federal law requires states to accept a FWAB from any overseas voter who applies for a ballot on time, doesn’t get it, and mails their FWAB from outside the country. It doesn’t matter if they’re trekking across the Australian outback and have no access to their mail, or if they’ve lived in the same apartment in Paris for 30 years and get their mail (well, sans state ballot) every day.

To clarify Missouri’s interpretation, though, she asks, “So you’ll count a FWAB from a voter in Zambia, but you won’t count a FWAB from a voter in London, who never got their ballot because their clerk forgot to put enough international postage on it?” What’s the response from the woman she’s talking to? “Where is Zambia?”

Eventually, it becomes clear that Missouri thinks they’ve found a loophole in UOCAVA that exempts them from the requirement of accepting all FWABs. We stick out team of Voter Protection lawyers on the case, who quickly figure out the statute in Missouri state law they’re citing as allowing them to use discretion when accepting FWABs only applies to state and local elections. So they have to count all FWAB votes for federal offices, no matter where the voter is. Sorry, Missouri. Better luck disenfranchising voters next time.

I could be using my extra hour for sleep, but no, you guys come first. Also, I’m still a little hyped up on the sugar I’ve been consuming at an alarming rate to stay functional. Note to self – go for a run. After the election.

Today was super. The field organizer I’ve been working under sent me out to manage my own canvass staging site, which basically meant she set me up with packets of turf (doors to be knocked) and sent me volunteers. The staging site was the precinct captain’s house, but she was getting ready to go out of town, so I was pretty much on my own. That’s another thing I love about this campaign – it’s so easy to be given instant responsibility, very much getting thrown in the water to sink or swim. I tend to work well in that kind of environment, with people counting on me and very little room or time for error. You just do what you have to do, and move on to the next thing.

It’s not that training volunteers on how to canvass is hard, but I’ve never done it before, and there certainly wasn’t anyone more experienced who could be spared to watch over my shoulder. It was a bit frazzling when the volunteers arrived in droves and we ran out of canvassing packets, but ultimately we got all of the packets out and back, and I didn’t hear from anyone who said they had a bad time. And luckily Mike, one of the DNC summer interns, was with me, and he was a wizard at organizing the information and numbers we had to report to HQ, so I could concentrate on giving the volunteers the information they needed.

There was some down time in the morning after the first wave, so I got to canvass a pack myself, which was great. It was the perfect day – warm at 66 degrees, bright sunshine, a little bit of a breeze, what more could I ask for? Unfortunately, I only made three voter contacts. The rest of my packet wasn’t home, probably enjoying the amazing weather themselves. Being outside instead of being cooped up at the DNC or in the VA field office was so refreshing. Have I mentioned how much I love canvassing?

And the best part is, I get to do it again tomorrow! I’ll be working with one of field organizers who apparently got swamped today at a different staging location. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk another packet or two in between trainings. At some point tomorrow, I’ll try to interrupt your regularly scheduled gushing about field work with a post about good old Dems Abroad, but we’ll see if that actually happens

In other news, I bought my bus ticket home for Thanksgiving today, before they all sell out. I can’t believe how close this is to being over.

Guys, I am thriving.

I love field work. It’s a thousand times better than sitting at a desk all day, answering e-mails from CRAZY expats. (Like one of the ones I got today, from a woman who wants to donate a PUPPY to the Obama family. A golden retriever, to be precise. She breeds them. I’m telling you – it’s impossible to make this stuff up.)

Anyway – there’s so much excitement at the field office, it’s like the air itself is vibrating. There’s a constant feeling of tension, but the good kind. Like when you have a crush on someone you see just often enough to convince you that every time you turn a corner, they might be there. It’s exhilarating.

The schedule is my kind of schedule, at least during the week. Since canvassing (going door to door) and phone banking have the highest rate of contact from 5-9pm, there’s no reason to be at the office at 9AM. Both days the head field organizer told me she didn’t need me until 11:30, and things don’t really start to get busy until around 3 or so. Of course, after phone banking and canvassing are done, all the data has to be entered, and everything has to be set up for the next day. Which means late nights, perfect for the night owl in me.

I can’t wait for Sunday and Monday. Sunday night we’re doing door hanging (hanging flyers on doors reminding people to vote) starting at 10PM, into the wee hours of Monday. Monday night, we’re going basically all night. I’m so excited, you guys have no idea. Have I mentioned I’m at my best when I’m sufficiently sleep-deprived? I’m well on my way – I’m getting two hours tonight before I wake up for Saturday morning canvassing.

What else? Oh, being around kids my own age again is great. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of fun with Lindsey and the other DNC staff, but since my group of the summer interns went home, it’s been a little lonely. I’m sure the fall interns are nice, but I never really got to know any of them. Working such long hours in such close proximity to other college(ish) aged kids is a really nice change, and so far it’s been a blast. There’s such a sense of camaraderie, especially in these final days.

Also (I had to save the best for last) they FEED us. Ali (who’s been on the campaign since literally the beginning) says that’s unique to northern VA, but as far as I can see, we have the best volunteers donating amazing food, 24/7. Of course, there’s all the junk food a girl could want (I personally loved the cake shaped like Obama’s head that came in today, complete with matching cupcakes), but there’s also fresh fruit, muffins, last night there was jambalaya and chicken, tonight there was turkey casserole and some kind of stew…the list goes on.

I tell ya, this is the life. Next time around, I really want to work on a campaign, on the ground. I love talking to voters, meeting real people, telling people why I support Obama, convincing them if they need convincing, recruiting volunteers…everything. I mean, I’m sure I’m being idealistic, and a lot of the excitement just comes from the fact that it’s this candidate, this election, this campaign – but still, I think it’s an experience I’d enjoy a lot, whether it’s working for Obama’s reelection, or Steve Israel’s.