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Meet “Democrats Abroad Caribbean Islands” 

US citizens in the Caribbean urged to exercise their right to vote from abroad

Six decades ago, US citizens living overseas did not have a federal right to an absentee ballot. They had to travel home to vote on election day, a hardship or an impossibility for many that infringed on their right to vote.

Thanks to the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975, the right to an absentee ballot was secured, and since then absentee ballots have been pivotal in many elections.

Democrats Abroad — the official organization of the Democratic Party for United States citizens, including dual citizens, living in other countries — assists US citizens abroad in voter registration.

Founded in 1964, Democrats Abroad has grown to have members in more than 197 countries, with 48 organized country committees. There are committees in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. 

In May, 2022, the leaders of the Democratic Party Committee Abroad unanimously voted to approve Democrats Abroad Caribbean Islands as its newest, and only transnational, committee.

Democrats Abroad Caribbean Islands welcomes Democrats temporarily or permanently living in the following islands and island nations: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Saba, St. Barth's, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and Turks & Caicos.

Democrats Abroad was first organized simultaneously in Paris and London in 1964, when Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in the US presidential election. Democrats in those cities formed committees and elected officers, held parades and raised funds. The committees also solicited votes, but few were cast from abroad — because in 1964 US citizens living overseas did not have a federal right to an absentee ballot.

To remedy that injustice, leaders of Democrats Abroad formed the Committee for Absentee Democrats Abroad Voting, a bi-partisan group with Republicans, and began a ten-year struggle to expand the franchise to overseas US citizens. The Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975 became law in January 1976.

One of the primary functions of Democrats Abroad is to assist US citizens abroad in voter registration — unlike voters living in the US, those living overseas must register yearly. To this end, it has created the website VoteFromAbroad.org, which overseas US citizens (Democrats and non-members alike) can use to register to vote. 

Since Presidents and members of Congress are elected by state, US citizens abroad vote by absentee ballot in the state in which they have most recently lived or in the state with which they are most affiliated. States differ on whether overseas citizens can vote in state elections as well as federal ones, and each state has its own registration and voting procedures. VoteFromAbroad.org gives you this information when you sign in.

The VoteFromAbroad.org website asks voters which state they last lived in (you can use the state you are most affiliated with instead) and then starts a process specific to that state. After all the required information has been supplied, a PDF is created, which the voter can then print, sign, and mail (or sometimes fax, or scan and attach to email) to the address provided.

Several weeks before the election, the Board of Elections or County Registrar (states use various names) sends the voter an absentee ballot which the voter then fills out and sends back in order to cast their vote.

US citizens and dual nationals living in the Caribbean islands can and should exercise their right to vote from abroad. For more information visit VoteFromAbroad.org,  www.democratsabroad.org, and the Democrats Abroad Caribbean Islands Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DemocratsAbroadCaribbean.