Even U.S. citizens living in other countries are voting for Senator Barack Obama as witnessed by his winning the Democrats Abroad global primary. The results were announced today, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in other countries voted by Internet, mail and in person, according to results released by the Democrats Abroad, an organization sanctioned by the national party.
More than 20,000 U.S. citizens living abroad voted in the primary, which ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. Senator Obama won about 65 percent of the vote. Voters living in 164 countries cast votes online, while expatriates voted in person in more than 30 countries, at hotels in Australia and Costa Rica, at a pub in Ireland and at a Starbucks in Thailand. The results took about a week to tabulate as local committees around the globe gathered ballots. Italian Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri, who has dual citizenship, cast a vote for Obama in Rome. "It wasn't an easy choice for me. I would still love seeing a ticket with Obama and Hillary (Clinton)," Melandri told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "A drive for change is what is needed in the U.S. and I think that Obama has that drive."
The Democrats Abroad control only seven pledged delegates at the party's national convention this summer. But at this point every delegate counts. This should give Senator about five more and Senator Clinton two more. Heading into the Democrats Abroad primary, Obama led with 1,351 delegates, and Clinton had 1,262.
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