Vote from Abroad this November!

A Message from President Jimmy Carter

On November 7, Americans throughout our land will vote in mid-term elections for the House and Senate. I am speaking to you today, as the Honorary Chairman of Democrats Abroad, to urge you to join them - wherever you may be in the world.

Voting from beyond our borders is easier than ever before. Democrats Abroad has developed a website that allows you to register to vote and create an absentee ballot request instantly online. Just type in www.VoteFromAbroad.org and you’re on your way to making a real difference.

Since leaving the White House, Rosalynn and I have visited more than 120 foreign nations in our work at The Carter Center. In many cases, we’ve become deeply involved with them in resolving some of their political, health, and agricultural challenges. During the earlier years, their admiration and friendship toward our country was almost universal, and truly heart-warming - in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and throughout the Islamic world.

Lately, there has been a drastic and disturbing shift toward distrust, alienation, and outright hatred. The dramatic deterioration in America’s reputation was not caused by a conflict between liberals and conservatives or even between Democrats and Republicans. The unprecedented new American policies are a radical departure from those of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, and also, of course, from those of Democratic presidents. At home, the result has been an unprecedented division among our citizens - exemplified by a sharp delineation between red and blue states.

Many Americans are deeply disturbed, and some are willing to stake their careers on making a change. Our son Jack, for instance, has left the world of agricultural commodities and investment finance to run for the U.S. Senate from Nevada - against a first term incumbent who has voted with the White House 96% of the time during the past five years (compared to Tom Delay’s 90%).

We are faced in 2006 with congressional elections of momentous historical importance - more so than at any time in my memory. The outcome will be either an endorsement of Washington’s current policies or a great political brake on these ill-advised and destructive trends. There can be no better qualified or objective analysts than Americans, like you, who live overseas and are not unduly swayed by the constant stream of biased news media, like Fox News and the all-pervasive right-wing radio talk shows.

It is imperative that every American citizen living abroad join us in this crusade to change the course of our government by becoming registered to vote and participating fully in the electoral process. Democrats Abroad has made registering to vote and requesting an absentee ballot quick and simple at VoteFromAbroad.org. I invite you to use that website, request your absentee ballot, vote, and make a difference.

Thank you for doing your part to ensure a brighter future for America in the world.

President Jimmy Carter