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The bounce within the Democratic Party since Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz became its nominees goes beyond United States borders. The organization that represents the Democratic Party overseas tells reporter Teri Schultz that American voters abroad are going to be more important in this election than ever before.
TERI SCHULTZ: France and Finland may never have been thought of as swing states in a U.S. election, but that could change this November if the millions of eligible U.S. voters living overseas become actual voters. Democratic activists say enthusiasm for the Harris-Walz ticket makes this an unprecedented possibility.
TANYA DOHONEY: We are an untapped potential.
SCHULTZ: At a cafe near her apartment in Paris, Tanya Dohoney hosts voter registration drives for overseas Americans, fewer than 8% of whom traditionally use their right to vote. Before Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate, Dohoney was struggling to convince people to sign up.
DOHONEY: There were several of them that I had tried to talk them into voting, and they're like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't affect me. And every possible persuasive thing I said, they were like, maybe. Now they're coming out of the woodwork, wanting to vote. They're so happy.
SCHULTZ: This same surge was seen around the world in the days after President Joe Biden stepped down, according to Democrats Abroad, the party's overseas organization. The group says voter registration numbers quintupled almost immediately, and membership in their organization tripled.
DANA FRELING: Oh, I see some people...
SCHULTZ: Texas native Dana Freling founded a Democrats Abroad chapter in Helsinki after Donald Trump took office in 2017. She says Harris' choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate had positive repercussions all the way to Finland because he'd visited there in 2021 to sign an environmental agreement between his state and the Finnish government. She says now even Finns are asking her how they can get involved.
FRELING: They cannot give money. They cannot see our data. But they can go out and tell people about Vote From Abroad. They can help go get the vote out.
SCHULTZ: Democrats Abroad registers people from either political party. Republicans don't have an official organization overseas. Mike Kulbickas often participates as a Republican in debates and public outreach events in Brussels. He says talk of Harris' wide appeal is based on superficial factors that may not actually motivate people to vote.
MIKE KULBICKAS: I don't think that there's any particular excitement related to her as a candidate. I think the only thing that she benefits from is that she is a woman, that she's a person of color.
SCHULTZ: But Dana Freling insists the turnout from Americans abroad could easily be the deciding factor in November. She says even the single-digit percentage of participation four years ago made the difference for Biden in crucial swing states.
FRELING: We were the margin of victory, with 20,000, or close to 20,000 votes in Georgia, in Arizona - in both of these states. In a state like Texas, we know that there could be up to half a million Texans along the Mexico border and in Central America - half a million.
SCHULTZ: The Democratic National Committee, the DNC, is doing that math this year. It's calculated exactly how many Americans from each of seven battleground states are living overseas - a total of more than 1.6 million people. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.
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