This exclusive interview tackles topics ranging from the Democratic Party’s stance on key domestic issues concerning the Americans such as abortion, immigration, economy, as well as the possible domestic and international reactions to the outcome. So, let’s hear what the Democrats have to say in this competitive election period where stakes are high more than ever!
Yagmur from CSACTU: Can you please talk about the function of Democrats Abroad and its relation with the US Democrats in the mainland? What does Democrats Abroad do?
Amy from Democrats Abroad: Democrats Abroad is organized as part of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), alongside 50 state committees, 6 territories (like Guam, the Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico), and itself. It’s considered a state committee. We consider that there are around 6 million Americans of voting age living abroad, with members in 190 countries who vote in every U.S. state and district. As the largest association of American civilians outside the U.S., Democrats Abroad has hundreds of thousands of members. It participates in the presidential nomination process and sent 21 delegates to the convention in Chicago in August, just like other states. In short, it’s the official international arm of the Democratic Party.
Y: So, can we say that your actions are limited to the election period only or do you have actions beyond the elections?
A: Not at all. Our main mission is to help people register to vote and to encourage them to vote for Democrats. However, we also do many other things. For example, we have the taxation task force. people who live outside the US have some Issues with US taxes that are very specific. We also deal with retirement funds without penalties for having retirement in another country. We also help Americans to adopt in their local countries.
Y: Can you please explain the process of abroad voting and its impact?
A: In the 2020 election, Biden won states like Arizona and Georgia by slim margins with fewer votes than the number of votes that got sent in from abroad. he won by around 14,000 votes and we had 18,000 ballots coming in from abroad. That’s why we encourage people to vote depending on the state’s rules. When voting from abroad, you follow the rules of the last U.S. state you lived in. There are 50 different voting systems in the U.S. with each state having its own regulations, deadlines, and processes. The Vote from Abroad website* simplifies this process. In just a few minutes, you fill out your information, create a form, and send it back via email or post, depending on your state’s rules. Election officials are required to send ballots to overseas voters 45 days before the election. For instance, we received our ballots on September 21st and I voted on September 22nd. My vote was confirmed the next day, ensuring it will be counted on Election Day.
*https://www.votefromabroad.org/
Y: I’d like to ask about the law protecting the voting rights of Americans living abroad. Donald Trump has remarks on his social media on « The Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act » (UOCAVA) and claimed that ballots will be sent to the people without identity checks and that voting will be illegal. What can you say about this?
A: I can say that Donald Trump is wrong which surprises no one. The UOCAVA acts allow all Americans to register to vote, ensuring they never lose this right, regardless of how long they’ve been outside the country. American expats with U.S. citizenship and passports can vote. Obviously, the local election officials in all the counties in all 50 states are not randomly sending ballots to people. Citizens must actively register each year on sites like vote from abroad.org.
Every year on January 25th, International Voter Registration Day, we encourage Americans abroad to register, providing their identifying information, including the last four digits of their Social Security number. This information is verified by local election officials before ballots are sent out to make sure that the person is indeed a US citizen.
Currently, some individuals are mistakenly attempting to register with random information, but this won’t work. Vote from abroad.org is solely for registration, not for casting votes. For instance, I received my ballot via email from the Palm Beach County election supervisor on September 21st, along with instructions for returning it. They only send ballots after confirming my identity. all this nonsense about voting from abroad being illegal is completely ridiculous and false, and once again shows that Donald Trump understands nothing about the US election system.
Y: I wanted to clarify this for our readers too. Thank you for the clarification.
A: It’s part of Trump’s larger strategy to declare in advance that the election process is flawed. That’s his only explanation for why he lost. He cannot admit that he lost because fewer people voted for him compared to his opponent. He did it in 2020 and he’s doing it again in 2024. Republicans are trying to win by preventing Democrats from voting instead of winning by getting the most votes. They are creating obstacles to make it harder for people to register, particularly in the U.S. This includes intimidating election office staff and reducing the number of drop boxes for ballots.
During election season, many states allow early voting and mail-in ballots. You can either go to your polling place and vote in person, or you can ask to vote by mail. but some states like Texas, have significantly limited access to drop boxes. For example, Harris County, home to Houston’s 3 million residents, previously had hundreds of drop boxes but now only has three, making voting much more difficult. Because Texas is a Republican state. Texas has stringent requirements for voter registration and ID, such as ensuring that the name on your ID matches the one on your birth certificate. This creates additional challenges, especially for women who have changed their names after marriage. Overall, their strategy is focused on making voting difficult. It is basically winning by cheating. But it’s not going to happen.
Y: I remember Donald Trump discoursing people on voting by mail.
A: That discouraged many Republicans from voting by mail, which was a stupid thing to do. Although he has tried to retract his statements about mail-in voting being fraudulent, many still believe him, despite there being numerous safeguards in place to ensure ballot validity. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republicans passed a law requiring voters to write the date they mailed their ballot on the back of the envelope in pen. If someone forgets to include this handwritten date, their ballot is discarded and not counted. This is just one of the many obstacles being implemented to suppress voter turnout, which is a very un-American thing to do. Voting is the most crucial right Americans have, as it underpins all other rights.
Y: I’d like to get to the political questions. First, I want to ask about the « country over party » slogan. So do you think this call will reunite the American public which is already facing deep divisions in terms of ideology and other societal issues?
A: I’m not sure. I hope so. But there are things that can unite all Americans, like freedom. This includes the freedom to choose what to read, and wear, who to marry, and make health decisions about one’s body. It seems that Republicans no longer support these freedoms; instead, they want to control people—dictating who they can live with and how they can access healthcare, which is wrong.
Another unifying moment for Americans occurs during natural disasters, like hurricanes. Emergency services, regardless of their political affiliation, help those in need without asking about their political views. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has politicized the recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, which is also wrong and un-American. He’s discouraging people from seeking the aid they rightfully deserve, putting lives at risk. This mirrors his actions during COVID when he advised against wearing masks and getting vaccinated, leading to a million deaths in the U.S. I can’t understand how anyone would consider re-electing him after witnessing his behavior in his first term. It’s just unacceptable.
Y: How do you see the split between the Republican Party? Many Republicans today are endorsing Harris such as Nikki Hailey’s former campaign members. Liz Cheney did as well recently at the Wisconsin rally.
A: About 100 former members from past administrations, including Reagan and both Bush administrations, are endorsing Harris, along with 700 national security officials from both parties. They argue that she’s better for the country and that Donald Trump poses a danger to the U.S. Notably, there’s no movement of Democrats supporting Trump—it’s a one-way street, which reflects the current state of the Republican Party. Trump has essentially poisoned and dismantled the party.
The Republicans used to stand for small government, but now they want to control women’s bodies, which contradicts that principle. They were once the party of law and order, yet their candidate is a convicted felon with 34 convictions. They also claimed to be fiscally responsible, but Trump added $8 trillion to the deficit through tax cuts for the wealthy. He doesn’t represent the party’s original values.
As Democrats, we find it distressing because we operate within a two-party system, and no third-party candidate has recently won the presidency. It’s essential to have two serious parties that aim to govern, even with policy differences. We should be discussing issues like corporate tax rates and whether we should tax corporations at 28% or 31% but instead, we’re facing a party that lies about everything—immigration, the economy, and even natural disasters. This creates a significant imbalance in politics.
I’ll be debating university students in Paris tonight, and I’m particularly interested in the perspectives of those under 30. Many of them have only known politics with Trump and may not remember a less divisive time. Although there have always been political differences, we used to engage in civil discussions. Now, debating feels like a challenge because I know I’ll have to fact-check everything a Republican opponent says. Because I have already debated with this person in the past. He suggested that crime is rampant and caused by migrants. I demonstrated statistics from the FBI showing that crime is down and that migrants are among the least likely to commit crimes because they would like to stay under the radar obviously. He said he doesn’t believe in the FBI.
This makes it impossible to discuss policies with someone who doesn’t believe in facts. Even moderate Republicans in Congress are leaving because they can’t stand the current environment. There are still a few moderates, well-known ones like Mitt Romney, they’ve been completely subsumed by the MAGAs, the Trump wing of the party. Their presence in Congress doesn’t lead to progress, so our message is clear: if you want to see things done in Congress, vote for Democrats, as we’re the only ones interested in governing. The current Congress, elected in 2022, has been the least productive since Herbert Hoover’s era in the 1930s. They’ve passed almost no significant legislation without the help of Democrats, as they lack a majority. This situation must be uncomfortable for those moderate Republicans who remain. I know people in my family who used to vote Republican but have decided not to this year.
Y: It’s not practical for the country either.
A: No, nothing is being accomplished right now. Another important message for voters is that while it’s crucial to support Kamala Harris for president, we also need a Democratic Senate and House. Without that, we won’t get anything done with a divided government. Currently, we have a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate, and a Republican House. It’s a miracle that Biden has achieved as much as he has, especially considering that most progress happened when we had a 50/50 Senate and a majority in the House. Since 2022, the Republicans have stalled everything.
The immigration issue is a glaring example. Republicans have claimed for decades that the immigration system is broken and that millions are crossing the border, labeling it an open border. However, it’s never been an open border. While the legal immigration system does need attention, the reality is that when it doesn’t work efficiently, people attempt to cross illegally. Democrats negotiated with one of the most hardline Republican senators, James Lankford from Oklahoma, to create the toughest immigration bill ever seen. This bill aimed to add 1,500 more border agents equipped with technology to detect fentanyl and other drugs and to streamline the process by adding more asylum judges. It was meant to let in those who deserved it while sending back those who didn’t.
Despite not including key provisions like a path to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, Democrats were ready to vote for the bill in March because we needed progress on border issues. But then Donald Trump intervened, calling everyone in the Senate and House, urging them not to support the bill. He wanted to keep the border issue alive to help him in the elections. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg put it well when he said that for Republicans, the border is more valuable as a problem than as a solution. They prefer to use it as a political talking point rather than actually solving the issue. George W. Bush, the last Republican president before Trump, tried for years to pass an immigration reform bill, but his own party wouldn’t support it, even though he was from Texas, a border state.
So when Republicans criticize Biden for not addressing the border issue, I remind them that they’ve had decades to tackle it. Trump had four years and did nothing because they didn’t actually want to resolve the problem. In fact, illegal border crossings are currently at a three-year low. We’ve made small steps to improve the legal system, which has contributed to this decline. The claim that millions are streaming across the border is just another Republican lie, and I have the statistics from border control to back that up.
Y: I’d like to ask you about the promises of the Harris-Waltz campaign on several key issues domestically and internationally, starting with domestic issues. As you know, state bans on abortion are very concerning for women in the US, especially after the overturning of Roe vs Wade. What are the promises of Kamala Harris to make sure that the right to abortion is preserved?
A: Well, the issue with Roe v. Wade is that it was a Supreme Court decision, not a law. When Democrats were in power, they didn’t see the necessity to establish abortion access as a law because, for 50 years, women had the right to terminate a pregnancy up to about 24 weeks. Kamala Harris has publicly stated her desire to codify the provisions of Roe v. Wade into law.
However, the problem extends beyond just the ability to terminate a pregnancy voluntarily. We’re also talking about situations where a pregnant woman is in her seventh or eighth month, and complications arise that threaten her life. In such cases, the necessary care is essentially the abortion care. If you have an ectopic pregnancy or you have a miscarriage that doesn’t expel properly, the solution is abortion. Doctors in states with strict abortion laws are often hesitant to provide this critical care for fear of going to jail. There have been instances we have two of them in Georgia where women have died because doctors refuse. To treat them, and now there is a federal law that says you must provide emergency care to somebody. The narrative that Republicans push—that women are simply seeking abortions at will—is misleading. It highlights a profound misunderstanding of pregnancy and women’s health by the lawmakers involved. Just like these six-week abortion bans, where many women don’t even realize they are pregnant by that time. It’s an attempt to ban abortion nationally which is what Trump and JD Vance will do if they have power.
This political climate has prompted millions of women, particularly young women and women of color, to register to vote for the first time. we’re witnessing a significant gender gap. Typically, voter registration splits about 50/50 between men and women. Currently, however, it’s about 70/30, with 70% of those registering being women. I don’t think these women are signing up to support Donald Trump.
This trend was evident in the 2022 midterms following the Roe v. Wade decision, which led to a spike in women registering to vote. Approximately 85% of these new registrants actually voted. Republicans will likely be surprised by how many women will cast their votes for Democrats. Most women, regardless of party affiliation, will not vote against their own rights. The notion that women have forgotten the implications of overturning Roe v. Wade is absurd. If anything, the situation has worsened since then, highlighted by alarming stories of women being denied treatment and suffering severe health consequences. Many of these women had wanted to have children but were faced with life-threatening situations.
Furthermore, the majority of women seeking abortions are already parents. Statistics show that economic considerations play a significant role; many women simply cannot afford to have another child. When you force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term without adequate support, and you as Republicans consistently oppose measures that would aid families, such as paid family leave or child tax credits, it is is hypocritical. They are not genuinely pro-life, they don’t care for the well-being of children once they are born.
The notion of exceptions for rape and incest is also ridiculous. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, an article in The New York Times reported that 64,000 babies were born from rape in the U.S. during the first year after the decision, with over 20,000 of those in Texas alone. The idea that these children will be well cared for is deeply troubling. It’s shocking that Republicans continue to think that women don’t care about this, on the contrary, it is our number one concern.
The interview will continue in Part 2 where we tackle gun safety, Project 2025, the MAGA movement, and much more!
