Democrats will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to register voters overseas and increase voter turnout in a bid to win key battleground state elections in November, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Monday.
The $300,000 investment will go to an organization called Democrats Overseas, which works to mobilize Democrats living abroad to vote and take part in liberal causes. According to Democrats say this is the first time they've funded voter outreach to millions of Americans living overseas in a presidential election, of whom they say only 8% are registered to vote.
“This election will be decided by a narrow margin and every vote counts,” Democratic National Committee Executive Director Roger Lau said in a press release. “With our largest investment in Democrats Abroad this election cycle, we intend to win this election by engaging voters both in the United States and abroad. This investment demonstrates our commitment to doing everything in our power to win.” (RELATED: Biden administration considered using “after-school programs” to register Democratic voters, emails reveal)
The 2024 presidential election is shaping up to be a close one. As of August 12, a New York Times poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump by just one point. average Polls show Harris and Trump neck and neck in key battleground states.
The Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Daily Caller News Foundation about whether it was developing a similar plan to mobilize conservatives living overseas. Republicans Abroad is a group that works to engage with conservatives living in other countries, but it's unclear whether it's as well-funded as Democrats Abroad.
“Even though Democrats overseas have been here for years … the Republican Party still doesn't have an equal organization,” Sharon Manitta, international spokesperson for Democrats Overseas, told DCNF.
Manitta said he suspects the majority of Americans living abroad are Democrats, but that there's “no way to definitively prove” whether citizens abroad lean one way or the other in terms of party.
A polling booth during the Kentucky primary election. (Photo: John Cherry/Getty Images)
According to a DNC press release, there are approximately 1,625,136 people residing overseas from the key states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Approximately 44,000 votes in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin decided the 2020 election. According to To NPR.
State Department estimate A report released in 2020 claimed that about 9 million Americans were living overseas, the same figure claimed by the Democratic National Committee in a press release. The department stopped providing such estimates in 2020, citing difficulties in collecting accurate data, Axios reported. Reported.
of American Overseas AssociationGroups that support Americans living abroad noted that the State Department does not include tourists in its estimate, and estimates that at least 5.4 million Americans will be living overseas as of 2023.
“We are thrilled to receive the support of the Democratic National Convention at this time in the election cycle,” Martha McDevitt Pugh, chair of Democrats Abroad, said in a press release from the DNC. “This is a powerful testament to our work and the importance of overseas voters who voted in their home countries and have helped close the margin of victory in many key elections, including our victory in Georgia in 2020.”
Georgia counted 18,475 overseas votes in the 2020 election. According to According to a government report, the total number of overseas votes was Exceeded President Joe Biden's margin of victory in the state, The party breakdown of overseas voters is unclear.
The DNC did not immediately respond to DCNF's request for comment.
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