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Democrats in SA have their say
06/02/2008 11:26 - (SA)
Verashni Pillay
Johannesburg - The excitement of the US presidential party nomination primaries has found its way onto South African soil, with the opening of the first Democrats Abroad committee in South Africa.
"In a month's time we had over a 100 registered voters so it's been very good," chairperson, R Courtney Priester told News24 on Tuesday.
Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing overseas voters, will hold its first global presidential preference primary from February 5 to 12, with ex-pats selecting the candidate of their choice by internet as well as fax, mail and in-person at polling places in more than 100 countries.
The Democratic nominee for US president will be selected by the majority of delegates at the National Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado in August.
The presidential election is in November 2008. President George W Bush steps down in January 2009.
The point of the primary elections is to indicate the amount of support individual delegates have.
First SA committee
While the organisation has committees throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Antipodes, the South African committee was first formed in December 2007 after a failed attempt in 2004.
Democrats in South Africa had up till 31 January to register to vote in the primaries, which has seen Obama and Clinton compete neck-in-neck in a history-making contest that will see either a woman or a black man being nominated as the main Democratic candidate for president.
The response has been good according to Priester, an entrepreneur and voice-over artist who has lived in South Africa since 2003 with his wife.
"Some (voters) I met physically, some I went to their house and registered to vote, some came to my house and registered to vote," he said. "We had a function where we invited people and we shared the information and they went online and registered to vote."
Voting started on February 5, coinciding with Super Tuesday in the US where the biggest number of US states vote for their preferred Democratic candidate.
51st state
Democrats living in South Africa who have registered have until February 12 to cast their vote.
The approximately six million American citizens living abroad count as a "51st state" according to Priester. "We get the option of 22 delegates to the democrat convention," he said.
Their votes will be represented at the Democratic National Convention, who according to party rules get half a vote each for a total of 11. That's more than US territories get, but fewer than the least populous states, Wyoming and Alaska, which get 18 delegate votes each.
Absentee voting in the general elections in November is available through US embassies and consulates, but Democrats Abroad takes political participation one step further by helping party supporters cast their vote for their Democratic candidate of choice.
After the primaries, Priester plans to establish certified voting centres in Cape Town, Johannesburg as well as Durban where American citizens will be able to vote in the US general elections in November by fax, mail or internet. "We'll handle all the ballots and everything," he said.
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