Guest Editorial: The Right to Vote - Democrats Abroad
Millions of Americans abroad still have skin in the game—and their ballots are under threat
BNB Note:
While politics is often analyzed from the outside, BNB’s Guest Editorial Series aims to flip that perspective by highlighting the firsthand experiences of those working inside the political and policy arena. This includes lawmakers crafting legislation, candidates navigating the campaign trail, career civil servants implementing public programs, and political operatives shaping strategy behind the scenes.
The goal is not to litigate every claim or endorse every position, but to provide readers with direct insight into how decisions are made, how institutions function, and how power operates in practice.
Below, is a guest editorial from Karen Frankenstein - Executive Director of Democrats Abroad, the official Democratic Party arm for the millions of Americans living outside the United States.
Most Americans understand that voting is a core responsibility of citizenship. Fewer realize that millions of Americans exercise that right from outside the United States, and that their ability to do so depends on systems now under increasing attack.
9 million Americans live outside the United States, and 6.5 million are eligible to vote. 1.3 million of them - about the population of Hennepin County in Minnesota - requested a ballot in 2024. Not a big deal, one might say, but overseas voters are overwhelmingly left-leaning - and we vote in every state. We pay taxes, follow policy debates, and experience - often in real-time - the consequences of U.S. decisions on the world stage. We are passionate about democracy. Our connection to the United States is not diminished by distance - and neither is our right to vote.
A recent executive order targeting voters across the country directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile nationwide lists of voting-age citizens and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to individuals on newly created federal eligibility lists. It also raises the specter of criminal penalties for election officials and postal workers handling ballots deemed “ineligible.” These actions represent a dramatic federal intrusion into a Constitutionally defined process that falls under state jurisdiction.
Under the Constitution, states, not the federal government, administer elections. For Americans living abroad, that means voting in the last state where we resided and following that state’s rules, deadlines, and procedures. A one-size-fits-all federal system violates the U.S. Constitution while disenfranchising eligible voters.
Why is the administration targeting these votes? The answer is simple: overseas votes matter. In close elections, they can be decisive. In 2020, for example, overseas ballots in Georgia outnumbered the margin of victory. Efforts to restrict or control these votes are not about efficiency—they are about influence.
The risks extend beyond overseas citizens. Military families, seniors, voters with disabilities, and working Americans all rely on absentee and mail-in voting. Undermining these systems threatens participation for millions.
In response, overseas voters are organizing, educating, and mobilizing. Through trusted tools like VoteFromAbroad.org, we are ensuring that Americans abroad know how to request ballots, meet deadlines, and return their votes securely.
But we cannot do it alone. Americans at home play a crucial role. Remind friends, family members, and colleagues living overseas that they should request their ballots each year; send them to votefromabroad.org for help. Outreach like this can make a big difference.
Voting is one of the few rights that travels with us wherever we go. Protecting that right for every eligible voter is essential to the integrity of U.S. democracy.