Non-Partisan Gathering Shows Support for the Upcoming US Election
(Bangkok, Thailand – October 8, 2024) — Americans living in Thailand will come together on Thursday, October 10 from 12 noon to 1 pm to show their support for US electoral democracy by exercising their right to vote in front of the US Embassy in downtown Bangkok.
The 2024 Election Ballot Walk will see a large, non-partisan group of Americans walk down down Witthayu (Wireless Road) from the Au Bon Pain (in front of GPF Tower) at midday with their ballots, and deposit their ballots in the official US Citizen Services drop box in front of the Embassy. Ballots returned via that box are sent back to the US by the Embassy, and mailed to the states to be counted in the November 5, 2024 national election.
“This walk is a symbol of American democracy in action, which allows Americans wherever they are in the world to vote in our national election,” said Harold Hibbert, Vice-Chair at Democrats Abroad Thailand. “Overseas Americans being able to use their voice and exercising their right to vote is part of what makes our system special, and we strongly support the US Embassy’s role in facilitating the vote by sending our ballots back to the US.”
At the U.S. Embassy Bangkok, those gathered for the ballot walk will place their ballots, one by one, into the official embassy drop box for delivery back to the U.S. They will be cheered on by the assembled group in this momentous display of civic engagement in the US election from Bangkok, on the opposite side of the world from the US. The central message will be that at home or abroad, voting is your right, so make it count, and make your voice heard!
This is the second time that overseas Americans in Thailand have done the Election Ballot Walk. In October 2020, a group of Americans also showed their democratic spirit by conducting a similar Election Ballot Walk.
For Americans who have not yet registered to vote, or requested their absentee ballot, they should urgently make a plan to vote. The best way to do this is immediately go to www.VoteFromAbroad.org where they can quickly complete and print out the necessary form (along with detailed instructions) to send back to their local/state registrar of voters. By doing so, they will become an important part of the critical upcoming election, and help make the democratic decision about America’s future.
