February 24, 2008

Dear Democrat in India,

Thank you!

Many thanks to all of you who voted, wherever and however you did it! This is the first time that DA's primary has been truly global, with Voting Centers around the world, and with internet voting that even
enabled an American in Antarctica to vote. So you have helped make history - and all Democrats know that we can make even greater history in November, when we will elect an absolutely outstanding Democratic candidate to be President of the United States!

Results of the Global Primary

You joined in with over 23,000 Americans in 100
countries around the world to cast votes by mail, fax,
Internet and at walk-in voting centers in 33 cities.
The results:

Biden 0.1%
Clinton 32.7%
Edwards 0.7%
Kucinich 0.6%
Obama 65.6%
Richardson 0.1%
Uncommitted 0.2%

How did India vote?

The results of the Global Primary in India are as
follows:

Biden 0%
Clinton 27.7%
Edwards 0.6%
Kucinich 0.6%
Obama 71.1%
Richardson 0%
Uncommitted 0%

343 Democrats in India cast ballots: 169 by Internet
and 174 at our walk-in voting center in Delhi. Of
course, many more will have voted by absentee ballot
in their home state, rather than in the global
primary, so overall participation by Democrats in
India was higher still.

Today?s Civics Lesson: How many delegates does each
candidate get?

The DA delegation to the Democratic National
Convention in August will consist of 22 delegates,
each with 1/2 a vote for a total of 11 votes. Now put
on your thinking cap and stay focused on the VOTE
count, not the number of delegates: The worldwide
results of the Global Primary determine the allocation
of 4.5 pledged Regional Delegate votes at the
Democratic National Convention, so the delegate count
comes down to Senator Obama winning 3 delegate votes,
and Senator Clinton winning 1.5 delegate votes. A
further 2.5 pledged At Large votes will be determined
at the Democrats Abroad Global Convention in April.
In addition, Democrats Abroad holds 4 superdelegate
votes.

Now put on your thinking cap again, and let?s switch
our analysis to actual people on the DA delegation:
The 7 pledged votes described above will be carried to
the Denver Convention by 14 people who will make up
your Democrats Abroad delegation. These 14 delegates
will be elected through three Regional Caucuses, and
at the April 11-12 Global Convention of Democrats
Abroad in Vancouver.

Based on the Asia Pacific Region?s share of the total
number of votes cast in the Global Primary (16%), our
region will elect one pledged Obama delegate. (The
Americas will elect one Obama and one Clinton
delegate; and the Europe-Middle East-Africa region
will elect 4 Obama and 2 Clinton delegates.) At the
Global Convention, 5 more delegates will be elected
who are not tied to regions but who will be pledged to
vote in proportion to the global vote (3 for Obama and
2 for Clinton). The remaining 8 delegates, who are
members of Democrats Abroad who serve on the
Democratic National Committee, are some of the famous
"superdelegates" we've been hearing so much about:
they can decide for themselves who they will cast
their vote for.

If you do the math, yes, all this adds up to 22 people
for 11 votes: 4.5 for Obama, 2.5 for Clinton, and 4 as
yet unpledged. Whew.

What's next?

The most important thing you can do next is to make
sure you are registered as an absentee voter in your
home state so that you can vote in the election in
November.

Registering to vote in the Democrats Abroad Global
Primary did not register you as an absentee voter in
your home state, and in November's election there will
be no Voting Center and no Internet voting!

Go to www.votefromabroad.org, where you can download a
printable application form for an absentee ballot for
your state, complete with instructions on where to
mail it.

Please do it NOW, while it's fresh in your mind, so
that you can rest assured that you will receive your
absentee ballot in time for the November election!

Join the countdown to a Democratic White House
Democrats Abroad India promises to keep you informed,
involved and entertained between now and November,
with events that will let you meet fellow Democrats,
learn more about the issues, and share in the energy
of this momentous campaign. For starters, the new
Mumbai chapter is planning a meet-up on March 4.
Delhi Dems will meet on March 14. Details to follow
soon.

Want to help?

We can use volunteers to keep Democrats Abroad humming
along and find creative ways to make sure that all
Democrats in India are mobilized to vote in November.
If you'd like to help, whether as an occasional
volunteer or as a member of our Executive Committee,
please get in touch right away!

Our thanks go also to the volunteers who helped us get
the word out about the primaries; to our donors who
made possible our GOTV ad campaign; to those who
helped run the voting center on the four days we were
open; and to the wonderful Ploof Restaurant which
cheerfully hosted the voting center free of charge.
(Please go there for a Democratic drink or meal one
day soon - their food is as good as they are
friendly!)

Democratically yours,

Carolyn Sauvage-Mar
Chair
Democrats Abroad-India


P.S. For a complete look at the corrected Global
Primary results broken down by country committee,
please visit www.democratsabroad.org