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U.S. Election 2016
Supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders gather in London, UK on March 1st as voting got underway in the U.S. Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary. After the UK, the largest bloc of votes was cast in Canada. The results were announced this week.

Supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders gather in London, UK on March 1st as voting got underway in the U.S. Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary.

FRANK AUGSTEIN/AP

Canada, UK, Germany, France saw highest turnout among Democratic voters in a global primary dominated by Bernie Sanders

Democratic voters living outside the United States, including those in Canada, are certainly feeling the Bern.

American citizens in more than 170 countries voted in the Democrats Abroad primary.

Of the 3,272 in Canada, a majority voted for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

That outcome mirrors the global picture. Of the 34,750 votes cast by phone, fax, mail or in person, Mr. Sanders won handily, according to the group Democrats Abroad, which organized the primary and announced the results on Monday.

Democrats in Canada accounted for about 10 per cent of the total vote, second only to the largest group who voted in the primary: voters living in the U.K.

The overall 2016 turnout was up 50 per cent compared with the last Democrats Abroad primary, in 2008. In that contest, Barack Obama won easily with a similar 2-1 share of the vote.

The Sanders victory comes with delegates – which is exactly what Mr. Sanders needs more of. He is trailing Ms. Clinton by more than 300 delegates, and the deficit is even bigger when superdelegates are taken in to consideration.

But the Democrats Aboard win offers only a modest prize for Mr. Sanders: He wins nine of the 13 pledged delegates under the proportional system rules that govern how delegates are awarded in the Democratic presidential primaries.

Still, there is no discouraging the insurgent candidate.

"We are waging a strong campaign and plan to take it all the way to the Democratic National Convention this summer," Mr. Sanders said Monday.

There is another opportunity for his campaign to regain momentum – and score even more delegates: On Tuesday, Democratic contests are taking place in Arizona, Utah and Idaho, with 131 delegates up for grabs. Contests on the Republican side are also taking place in Arizona and Utah.

With a report from AP