Could Canada pick our next president?
Democrats Abroad in Windsor, Canada, has launched the first-ever "door knocking" for US Voters outside the US. Here's why that matters.
Windsor, Canada, is some 42 miles north of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I’m typing away.
It’s close enough that I can pop over the border for some poutine and politeness and be back for brunch, even with traffic. It’s close enough that several, maybe even dozens, of drivers end up at the Canadian border every day because they made a wrong turn in downtown Detroit. They call this area the “Detroit–Windsor,” like it’s two progressives who married and can’t decide on one last name.
For the first time possibly ever, Democrats Abroad has taken to the streets of Windsor to canvass U.S. voters by knocking on doors, letting US citizens outside the country know that many, if not most, of them can register and vote until Election Day.
“The largest push will be this Saturday, the 19th of October,” David Shelton of Democrats Abroad — Windsor Chapter tells me. “We have been getting a great deal of support and encouragement and very little resistance. I find this notable because we are ‘cold knocking’ at every door on the streets we select.”
They have already knocked on 1,000 doors and plan to hit another 1,500 before the election in addition to the more than 1,000 voter contacts they’ve made during “walkabouts” at public events such as farmers’ markets.
And while Shelton admits these numbers might seem “modest by US standards,” this nascent effort could potentially help alter history in an election likely to be decided by about 10,000 votes. These Americans abroad could help Democrats defeat Donald Trump in the critical Great Lakes states, where most US citizens in Windsor are eligible to vote.
These voters have enormous power to determine Michigan's course in particular. A swing of just 340 votes put Democrats in control of our House, creating a trifecta that has unlocked a shocking amount of progress in one term, including free lunch for all kids, expanded reproductive rights, and—yes, really—the end of child marriage.
You may be wondering, how many American voters live in Windsor?
Well, ditto. I’m still trying to figure that out.
Democrats Abroad posits that there are 20,000+. According to Bruce Heyman, former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, there are “tens of thousands of thousands” of eligible U.S. voters in the city, which makes sense since the city has a population of 217,188 to 229,660 and is generally considered the most American city in Canada, which is like being the most MAGA house in Ann Arbor.
But the difficulty in assessing this number helps explain why the voter turnout rate for American voters abroad is so abysmal—lower than 8% of the nearly 3 million eligible voters in 2020, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP).
Many eligible voters may have one American parent with whom they may not even be in contact. They may have never even been to the States. Some, as Angela Fobbs—a Florida voter working with Democrats abroad to improve US voter turnout from her home in Germany—told us, are mistakenly worried about taxes, which are not connected to voting at all.
But the most significant barrier seems to be that “They don’t know they can vote,” Fobbs said.
The opportunity to turn out hordes of worldly American citizens who are unlikely to buy into the MAGA con probably seems obvious to you. And Democrats Abroad has been busting their collective butts to increase turnout and save Democracy.
VotefromAbroad.org, the organization’s new registration tool for this election, offers a direct path for voting and help for any overseas voter struggling to get a ballot. Please make sure you know every American around the globe knows it exists.
This weekend, DA will again take their effort to the streets of Windsor. Please let anyone interested in joining the fight know they’re very welcome. Please tell a Canadian that it’s easier than building a wall on your Southern border to keep us out.
Well done, Windsor, Canada! Thank you!!! 😍