Every day, about 1,000 U.S. citizens living in Israel are registering to vote in the upcoming U.S. elections, according to Elie Pieprz, Director of iVoteIsrael.
Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, the organization has made contact with immigrants (olim) to Israel and with dual citizens. "We've held meetings at synagogues, we've appeared at lessons for the English speaking religious public, and we have been massively active through Facebook and a new website that has been put up especially for the upcoming elections," he told Arutz Sheva.
"The big difference between elections this year and those of previous years is that we have made things easier for people," he said. "This is the first election year in which there is an organization that reaches out and makes contact with people. We brought the registration forms to them, so that all they have to do is sign – an action that is not time consuming. In addition, we created 100 places throughout Israel where the form can be handed in, so the effort required in minimal."
The importance of voting in states deemed to be "toss-ups" between Obama and Romney needs no explanation, Pieprz said. But voting is also important in states where the outcome is almost certain, he added – "so that influential people and politicians in the U.S. understand that the Americans in Israel have power to influence the Jewish community in the U.S."