Long-Distance Democracy Takes Missionary Zeal

Last week, about 50 American citizens gathered in the lobby of an upscale Beijing apartment building. Munching chili dogs and brownies and sipping Diet Coke, beer and wine, the group, which included investment bankers, lawyers and analysts, crowded around a speakerphone to listen to a speech by Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Another 150 or 200 people were listening in from Shanghai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Jakarta.

The call was the work of Americans in China for Obama, a group started last year to raise money for and awareness about the candidate. The organizers also hope to advise the candidate about China issues. Last June, at a similar event, Sen. Obama addressed groups in Beijing and Shanghai over the phone, accenting his own experience growing up abroad and answering questions. No other major campaign seems to boast a similarly well-organized grassroots group in China. However, candidates including Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guiliani have made significant fundraising and outreach overtures to Americans living in London, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad each have chapters around the world, dedicated to helping American expats remain politically engaged. Both groups have active chapters in Hong Kong but not in mainland China, where they fear antagonizing the Chinese government -- though there doesn't seem to be any law prohibiting their presence and my own sense is that it wouldn't cause a ripple. Interested American citizens here can and do join the Hong Kong chapters.

I have always been a bit of a political junkie, and I still track the ups and downs of Washington through online news resources. I have voted in every election since I turned 18, including off years and off-off years, where only things like school boards and town councils were on the ballot. Because I moved a lot and always wanted to have a local vote, in my first 12 years of eligibility I registered and cast ballots in Pennsylvania, Michigan (twice), California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. When I moved to China it never occurred to me that it would be more than a blip in my voting record.

But when I finally tried to swing into action before last year's midterm Congressional elections, I realized that my New Jersey registration had been canceled because I had had my mail forwarded to my parents' house in Pittsburgh. For the first time in over 20 years, I was no longer a registered voter. Rectifying that proved more difficult than I anticipated.

Americans living abroad have had the right to vote by casting an absentee ballot in the congressional district where they last resided since 1975, when Congress passed the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act. I had the vague idea that I could now vote electronically, but in fact no expat can do so.

China can present some unique problems; for the last two weeks I have not been able to log onto the government site, www.fvap.gov, because it is banned behind the Great Firewall of China. I don't know why, nor will I ever find out. It is equally likely to reappear at any moment or remain locked down indefinitely.

Luckily, voters can also register at the Web sites for Democrats or Republicans Abroad, or the non-partisan www.overseasvotefoundation.org, an essential resource. But even though I registered and downloaded a New Jersey registration at the latter the other day, I still have to mail it back to Essex County, N.J., and wait hopefully for an absentee ballot to arrive the same way -- so I can again use snail mail to cast my ballot. I urge any American living outside the country to get an early start checking his/her registration and receiving an absentee ballot, because it can take a while. It's no surprise that some expats have taken a missionary zeal to helping others cast a ballot.

'I see helping Americans living abroad register and vote as a part of the long tradition of fighting for the process and right to vote,' says Carolyn Sauvage-Mar, Chair of Democrats Abroad-India. 'Your chances of meeting all the rules and deadlines as John Q. Public are 50/50 at best, so we're trying to improve the odds.'

Democrats who don't manage to update their registration, or simply prefer to vote as an international community member, can also cast a ballot in the Democrats Abroad Global Primary, to be held on their site from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. The victorious candidate will receive the votes from the Democrats Abroad delegates who will be at the party convention next August. Republicans Abroad are not running a similar election, nor will they have delegates at the convention.

Recent elections have emphasized the value of each vote. Ms. Sauvage-Mar says there is anecdotal evidence that overseas ballots helped turn the 2006 Virginia Senate race between George Allen and Jim Webb, where less than 10,000 votes helped shift the body to Democratic from Republican control. The 2000 Gore/Bush election was also a reminder of the power of a single vote, a fact often sited by politically active expats.

A feeling that the Bush administration has damaged America's international standing has prompted many Democrats living abroad to look for ways to assist their party. 'I never did that much here politically until after President Bush was elected and I became very concerned about the state of our country,' says Anne Stevenson-Yang, who has lived in Beijing for 17 years and is active with the Obama group. 'It felt like my country changed while I was away, almost as if your parents moved house while you were away at college and didn't tell you.'

Similarly, animosity towards Bill Clinton spurred some expat Republicans to get involved, including Christopher Fussner, an American in Singapore who has lived outside the U.S. for 25 years and is now Global Chairman of Republicans Abroad. 'I never even voted the first 12 or 13 years I was abroad,' says Mr. Fussner. 'Then I became really disgusted with President Clinton's policies and said, 'Whoa, I better figure out a way to do something.''

Some people who live abroad feel that the experience actually fuels their desire to be involved and changes their perspective on politics. 'People getting politically involved overseas seem a bit more genuine and dedicated to what they're doing than many back in the States,' says Alan Seigrist, Vice Chair for Republican Abroad's Hong Kong chapter. 'I find the same thing in Democrats Abroad, and the mere fact that we are all friends and colleagues shows that it can be a friendlier political environment here -- until Election Day that is.'

Living abroad offers a different perspective on America and its place in the world. Many feel that by living and working with people from many nationalities, they have gained a keener appreciation of the challenges and opportunities presented by an increasingly globalized society.

'I actually think we see the future coming a little bit more than most Americans are able to,' says Mike Dardzinski, an American who has lived in Beijing for four and a half years and was one of the founders of Americans in China for Obama. 'Living in most places in America, you just don't deal with people from all over the world every day like we do here, and that's the future.'

上周，大约50名美国公民聚在北京一处高档公寓的大厅里，大家围着一部免提电话，一边听民主党总统候选人巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)的妻子米歇尔•奥巴马(Michelle Obama)发表演讲，一边吃着热狗和果仁巧克力蛋糕，喝着健怡可乐、啤酒和葡萄酒。这些人中不乏投资银行家、律师和分析师。北京之外，上海、东京、名古屋、新加坡、香港和雅加达等地也有150-200人在同时收听这个演讲。

这个活动是由一个叫“在华奥巴马竞选支持者”的组织主办的。该组织从去年开始募集资金，向公众宣传奥巴马，还希望就中国问题向奥巴马提出建议。在去年6月举行的一个类似的活动中，奥巴马参议员通过电话向北京和上海的美国人发表了演说，讲述了他本人在国外的成长经历，并回答听众提出的问题。与这个组织良好的基层团体相比，其他团体在中国大陆举办的宣传活动似乎都要相形见绌了。不过，包括米特•罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)、希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)和鲁迪•朱利安尼(Rudy Guiliani)在内的一些候选人针对伦敦、香港和其他地方的美国人也进行了大规模筹款和宣传活动。

民主党和共和党均在海外设有分部，分别叫Democrats Abroad和Republicans Abroad，它们致力于帮助海外美国人继续参与政治。这两个团体在香港都有活跃的分会，但在中国大陆却没有类似的组织，因为他们害怕会与中国政府起冲突──虽然中国似乎没有相关的限制性法律，而且我本人认为这不会造成多大争议。居住在中国大陆的美国公民有兴趣者可以参加香港分会。

我一直是个比较热衷政治活动的人，虽然我人在中国，可仍会通过网上新闻资源关注华盛顿的一举一动。我从18岁起在每次选举中都会投票，甚至包括一些地方性的选举，比如只是选举学校董事会或镇理事会这样的规模。因为我经常搬家，而且总是希望能在住的地方投上一票，所以在我获得选举权之后的最初12年中，我在宾夕法尼亚、加州、佛罗里达、纽约州和新泽西州都曾登记并投票，在密歇根州甚至登记过两次！搬到中国之后，我从来没想过我在参加投票方面会跟以往有什么不同。

可是当我在去年的国会中期选举之前打算投入到选民行列中时，我意识到一个问题，因为我让邮局把信件转到匹兹堡我父母家里，所以我在新泽西州的选民登记被取消了。这意味着我不再是登记选民了，这可是二十多年来的第一次！事实证明，改正这个错误比我想像的要困难多了。

1975年国会通过了《海外公民投票权法》，允许海外美国人在他们最后居住过的选举区参加缺席投票。我还隐约知道我现在可以进行电子投票，但实际上还没有哪个海外美国人能这么做。

中国会有一些它特有的问题。过去两周，我一直无法登录政府网站www.fvap.gov。我不知道为什么会这样，而且永远也不会搞明白。网站随时都可能解禁，同样也可能无限期地被封锁下去。

幸运的是，投票者也可以在民主党和共和党海外部的网站登记，或者无党派的www.overseasvotefoundation.org也是一个重要资源。但是虽然我前几天注册并下载了一份新泽西州的登记表，我还是得把它寄回纽约州艾塞克斯县，同时满 期待地等着一张缺席选举人票以同样的方式送到我手中──好让我再次通过奇慢无比的邮寄方式来投下我的一票。我奉劝身在国外的所有美国人早点着手核对登记表，并接收缺席选举人票，因为这得花点时间。难怪有些旅居国外的人以传教士般的热情来帮助其他人投票。

民主党海外部印度分会的主席卡罗琳•索瓦基-玛(Carolyn Sauvage-Mar)说：“我将帮助海外美国人登记和投票视为争取投票权的悠久传统的一部分。作为普通民众，你能符合所有规定、 上所有最后期限的机会最多也只有一半对一半，因此我们力图能增加机率。”

没有更新登记表或宁愿以国际成员身份投票的民主党人也可以在Democrats Abroad Global Primary上投票，后者将在2月5日-2月12日之间在民主党海外部的网站上进行。获 的候选人将得到民主党海外部代表的选票，这些代表将在明年8月参加民主党大会。共和党海外部没有举行类似的选举活动，也不会派代表参加共和党大会。

最近的选举都强调重视每一张选票的价值。索瓦基-玛称，有传闻说海外选票改变了2006年乔治•艾伦(George Allen)与吉姆•韦伯(Jim Webb)竞争弗吉尼亚州参议员的结果，当时民主党以不到1000张选票的 势扭转了选举结果。2000年戈尔与布什之间的总统竞选让人们认识到每一张选票的重要性，积极投身政治的海外美国人常常提到这一点。

许多人觉得布什政府破坏了美国的国际形象，这一点让很多身在海外的民主党人行动起来想办法帮助自己的政党。已在北京生活了17年的杨思安(Anne Stevenson-Yang)说：“布什上台之前我从来没在这边做过这么多跟政治相关的事，但在那之后我非常担心我们国家的情形。感觉我不在的时候美国好像变了，这简直就像你离家去上大学时，父母那边搬了家却没告诉你。”杨思安是奥巴马竞选班子的积极支持者。

同样，对比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)的敌意也促使一些海外共和党人行动起来。克里斯托弗•富斯纳(Christopher Fussner)就是其中之一，他是在新加坡的美国人，已经在海外生活了25年，目前是共和党海外部的全球主席。富斯纳说自己在海外生活的头十几年从来没投过票，后来实在很讨厌克林顿的政策，于是决定想办法做点什么。

一些在海外生活的人感到，海外经历切实激发了他们的参与欲望，并改变了他们对政治的看法。共和党海外部香港分会副主席孙忠伟(Alan Seigrist)说，在海外投身政治的人似乎比在美国国内的人更真诚、更专注。孙忠伟说，他发现民主党海外部的人也是如此，而且，由于大家都是朋友甚至同事，这意味着在大选那天到来前，我们能有一个比较友好的政治气氛。

在海外生活让人得以从不同的角度看待美国及其在世界上的地位。许多人觉得，跟来自不同国家的人一起生活、工作让他们能更好地理解日渐全球化的社会带来的挑战和机遇。

麦克•塔金斯基(Mike Dardzinski)说：“事实上我觉得我们对未来能比大多数美国人看得清楚那么一点点。美国大多数地方的人都不会像我们这样，每天跟来自世界各地的人打交道，而未来就会是这样。”塔金斯基已在北京生活了四年半，是“在华奥巴马竞选支持者”的发起人之一。

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