Americans abroad: key swing voters?

"The US President affects the whole world. I can't elect a new one. But you can" reads the message that foreign web users are urged to send to their American neighbors, along with a hyperlink to a site where voters can download a ballot application. 6,000 of them had done so by the end of August, Ms. Taylor says.

Democratic organizers say they are especially hopeful that their supporters will go to the trouble of arranging an absentee ballot because - in the words of the activists - they have suffered the consequences of an unpopular US foreign policy personally.

"We are living in contact with our friends and allies and we feel the missteps of the administration much more poignantly than our families back home," says Joseph Smallhoover, international counsel for Democrats Abroad.

Democrats Abroad, online at www.democratsabroad.org, has more than doubled the number of its chapters to 72 over the past three years, according to Mr. Smallhoover. "Democrats have been extraordinarily energized," he says. "They are so angry about what has been going on in Washington that they have been registering to vote almost without our doing anything."

Republicans in Europe have relied mostly on their websites, including www.republicansabroad.com, as well as advertisements in the English-language European press, to do their registration work. Democratic volunteers have been more of a street presence across the continent, waylaying cinema goers in London on their way out of screenings of "Fahrenheit 9/11," for example, or setting up tables at Starbucks in Paris.

They have also been reaching out to a natural constituency - American students spending a year or so in Paris - who might not ordinarily go to the trouble of registering to vote but who this year have flocked to the Democrats' registration drives, say volunteers.

"I think it's very important that everyone gets a vote in because it's going to be close and every vote is going to count," says Laura Otterpohl, a major in International Communications at the American University of Paris, after filling out her absentee ballot application.

Even young voters who find it hard to work up much enthusiasm for John Kerry are answering the call: "I wasn't planning on voting, but I decided that this time it's gotta be done," says Anna Buxton, a third year art history student. "I feel so strongly against one candidate that I'm sure the other one can't do such a bad job."

But for all the Democratic action, the Republicans say they are confident of the overseas vote. "I would worry if this year all the Democrats registered," says Mr. Pingeon, "were it not for the fact that we too are seeing an enormous increase in interest."

It is also believed that military personnel overseas - who turn out in higher percentages than the national average - tend to vote Republican.

Last week was Armed Forces Voters Week. Military commanders around the world encouraged soldiers to mail in federal forms to register and request absentee ballots. Many states require overseas voters to register by Oct. 3 or Oct. 4.

Members of the military can request absentee ballots by e-mail.

Earlier this year, the Department of Defense shelved a new system designed to let service personnel vote over the Internet since it was easily hacked during tests.

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