On Super Tuesday, February 5, when 22 states holding primaries will vote to decide on the Presidential candidate, a small group of Democrats will gather at Ploof, a seafood speciality restaurant in South Delhi’s Lodhi Colony, to cast their votes online.

In the big battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, their votes, too, will count.

It was during the elections in 2004 that Sumana Brahman found herself distressed with American politics. As a Democrat living in India, Brahman found it very difficult to cast her absentee vote. “That year was a leverage point for us, for Americans living abroad. When we saw the margin by which our party lost, we knew it was time to change the global voting process,” says Brahman.

She found more Democrats living in India who were dissatisfied and felt disconnected with the political system of their country. That year, Carolyn Sauvage-Mar and Brahman founded Democrats Abroad India.

Democrats Abroad is the official overseas branch of the Democratic Party. This year, for the first time in the history of American elections, citizens from across the world will have a chance to vote in the first online Global Primary to choose the Democratic Party’s nominee. “From our past experience, we know that every vote does count and that the absentee vote has become even more important,” says Sauvage-Mar.

The organisation consists of a group of dedicated and politically aware Americans, now over 200, who regularly come together to discuss and debate on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to economy. While some members are working in multi-national corporations, some others are employed by different social and developmental organisations.

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