Democrats Abroad Mobilize Against Bush Through Expat Primaries

[Khephra]

The last U.S. election saw George Bush win partly due to large numbers of Republican absentee ballots. This year, Democrats have swiftly mobilized members abroad to help determine the party's presidential candidate.

Ron Schlundt has a lot on his plate. The chairman of German branch of Democrats Abroad -- the international organization of the U.S. Democratic Party -- has spent the past weeks compiling lists and counting votes.

As American voters turned out last Sunday for primary elections in Maine, expatriate Americans living in Germany held their own presidential straw polls in Berlin, Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern organized by Democrats Abroad. Two days earlier, Democrats in Heidelberg and Göttingen cast votes, which were followed on Monday with the Munich Caucus, Bavaria's answer to the Iowa Caucus.

Finally, at the end of February, the Germany-wide caucus takes place. The results will be sent to the International Caucus in Edinburgh this March. There, the combined tallies from countries around the world will determine which candidate the nine Democrats Abroad delegates will support at the Democratic National Convention in Boston this July.

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