Inauguration Day represents the culmination of the election process, a process that involves many moving parts and relies on the engagement of voters from every US state. Regardless of which candidate ultimately wins an election, motivating the electorate to engage in the civic process is an essential component of democracy, one that is all the more complicated when voters live abroad. For USTAs living in all nine Bundesländer of Austria, the essential question is, “What is my role as an American citizen beyond the classroom? What role can voting from abroad play in elections back home?”
In the months before the 2024 presidential election, USTAs Elliott Vahey and Lily Poppen set out to answer these critical questions and motivate as many of their fellow USTAs as possible to register and vote from abroad. In this article, they discuss their efforts and how building a base framework for future USTA cohorts and Fulbright Austria can facilitate engagement in future elections back home.