Republicans and Democrats in Korea gear up for big election night

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Republicans and Democrats in Korea gear up for big election night

The United States is not the only place where desperate, final pleas to vote were heard as the 2008 U.S. presidential election loomed. Across the Pacific, too, election fever spilled over into Korea.

In Korea, two organizations affiliated with their respective political parties - Democrats Abroad ROK and Republicans Abroad-Korea - have been eagerly awaiting today, Election Day, while busily making sure that U.S. citizens residing in Korea cast their absentee ballots.

“Our activities and efforts have been mainly focused on voter registration to encourage Americans living here in Korea to participate in absentee voting so that their ballots can be counted before it’s too late,” local Democrats Abroad Chair Kirstie Bromenshenk told the JoongAng Daily last Thursday.

Democrats Abroad is the official U.S. Democratic Party organization for Americans living abroad and Democrats Abroad ROK, established in 2002, was recognized as its official committee in Korea. Bromenshenk has chaired the organization since June this year.

“Our membership has more than doubled for the recent four months - from June to September - and includes a wide variety of communities in Korea, ranging from business to military and teachers,” Bromenshenk said. She declined to reveal the exact number of members, citing the organization’s policy.

“We call our voter registration drive ‘Get Out The Vote.’ It is designed to help register Americans here to vote and request absentee ballots. We’ve carried out these nonpartisan voter registration drives every weekend since April in Itaewon, Seoul, while five drives were also carried out in Busan where our chapter is located,” she added.

Bromenshenk expressed optimism, saying a large number of people have taken an interest in their voter registration drives held over the past six months.

“It was really encouraging to see so many people from not only the U.S., but also many other countries, taking an interest in our drive. Some even walked up to us and said they felt sorry that they are not U.S. citizens [and cannot vote for Democratic candidate Barack Obama], which impressed me.

“At this point, I’m optimistically hopeful [that Obama will win], but not naively confident,” said an enthusiastic Obama supporter from Montana, who has been a Democrat since her younger days despite being surrounded by Republican family members. She became an Obama fan after reading his book, “The Audacity of Hope.”

Republicans Abroad-Korea, or RAK - the voice of the U.S. Republican Party in Korea - has something in common with its Democratic counterpart in that it is also keen on voter registration drives.

RAK started its voter assistance work in January, stepping up activities from July through October with the November election drawing near. RAK has held two major voter registration events in recent months - one in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi on Sept. 20 and the other at Osan Air Base on Oct. 11-12.

“While it is difficult to know exactly how many voters RAK assisted, I believe we helped about 600 altogether this year,” RAK Chair John Lee told the JoongAng Daily last Friday.

Lee, a Korean-American who settled in the States in 1954 as a student and now serves as an adviser to a law firm in Seoul, formed a Korea Chapter of Republicans Abroad with his associates and has chaired the organization since 2000. He is also a charter and life member of the Republican National Committee.

“Most of our voter registration work was nonpartisan, so many people were happy to get our help. When we did openly work as a Republican organization, there were some critics but most people were still positive,” said Lee.

A Republican from Virginia who strongly believes in the party’s principles said, “Most U.S. national polling organizations are predicting that Senator Obama should win, but the polls could be wrong. I believe Senator McCain has an equal chance to win.”

RAK and Democrats Abroad ROK have also teamed up for one common cause: to get more voters registered.

Together, they have organized three joint voter registration events in Seoul this year.

The first was held on July 4 during an Independence Day festival on the U.S. Army Base in Yongsan; the second was held on Sept. 6 on the occasion of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea’s annual Labor Day picnic; while the third and most recent occurred on Oct. 11 at Yongsan Army Base.

Meanwhile, various election night parties are being planned by interest groups like Democrats Abroad ROK as well as the U.S. Embassy. Democrats Abroad ROK plans to hold an election watch party from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Korea time) tomorrow at The Orange Tree, a multicultural bar in Haebangchon near Itaewon.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is set to hold a U.S. Election Watch Open House at the Information Resource Center at the embassy from 8 a.m. tomorrow.

The election watch event is open to the embassy’s IRC members, university students and those engaged in businesses related to Korea-U.S. relations.

There will be a commentary by Robert Ogburn, deputy public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy, IRC Director Kim Su-nam said.



By Park Sun-young Staff Reporter [spark0320@joongang.co.kr]


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