Overseas voting has become the latest frontier in Republicans' legal challenges leading up to the election.
Judges in two key battleground states, Michigan and Pennsylvania, this week rejected Republican claims that officials improperly accepted thousands of overseas votes, potentially opening the door to fraud. I heard.
A judge is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday in a similar case in North Carolina.
State election officials have pushed back, insisting they are complying with legal requirements and warning that the lawsuit is part of a broader campaign to sow the seeds of post-election challenges.
Overseas voters make up a relatively small portion of the electorate, according to data from the Federal Election Assistance Commission. Officials counted about 890,000 votes nationwide in 2020, according to data from the Federal Election Assistance Commission.
But with just over two weeks until Election Day and polls showing the presidential race to be fiercely contested in key battleground states, the group could have significant influence. There is sex.
The new legal issues come as the voting bloc, made up of uniformed military personnel stationed overseas, their families and American citizens living overseas, increasingly appears to be Democratic.
Federal data shows that in recent election cycles, overseas nationals have accounted for a larger share of the vote than military members.
Both parties are now trying to persuade the group. Democratic National Committee Announced in August It was the first time a six-figure investment had been made in such a mobilization effort. And last week, President Trump announced a campaign proposal to eliminate double taxation on Americans living abroad.
Meanwhile, President Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Democrats are using overseas voting to commit massive election fraud. President Trump often accuses Democrats of widespread voter fraud, despite the lack of evidence.
“Democrats are talking about how hard they're trying to get millions of votes from Americans living overseas. They're actually preparing to cheat!” Trump said last month. , contributed to Truth Social.
Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer involved in President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, similarly told Friday's ” he posted.
Under the federal government's Uniform Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), states offer the ability to vote absentee to eligible Americans living abroad, including accepting postcard applications to register to vote and request a ballot. I have to.
Republican lawsuits in North Carolina and Michigan allege that state officials extend overseas voting protections to people outside UOCAVA.
Both states allow overseas nationals who have never lived there to vote as long as they are not registered elsewhere and their parents or guardians are eligible to vote in the state.
Michigan Judge Sima Patel heard the Republican case for nearly 90 minutes Thursday. She suggested their “biggest hurdle” is how long to wait before filing a lawsuit.
Brandon Debus, an attorney representing the Michigan Republican Party, told the judge that the problem was not clear until recently.
“This was not a deliberate or strategic delay. The bar is so high that there would be no point in doing that,” he said.
In Pennsylvania, which sent out 25,000 ballots this year, six Republican members of the state have filed a lawsuit seeking to sequester overseas ballots in this election.
The plaintiffs are Republican Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Muser, Glenn “GT” Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, Mike Kelly, and Scott Perry. Two moderate Pennsylvania Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and David Joyce, are not participating, and the RNC is not involved.
In contrast to lawsuits in other states, Pennsylvania's challenge centers on election officials exempting overseas voters' votes from certain verification steps that lawmakers say are required by federal law. . The congressman argued in his complaint that foreign countries could “easily submit” “forged” ballots.
“Defendants' disregard for the law creates the opportunity for ineligible votes to be included, potentially causing the final voting results to not accurately reflect the legal outcome and impacting a closely contested Congressional election,” the complaint states. “There is a possibility that the plaintiff will suffer damages.”
Lawyers for Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt (D) said the lawsuit is “based on its own confusion” because it confuses various provisions and exempts overseas voters.
“Plaintiffs may not like the fact that the Election Code exempts UOCAVA-eligible voters in this way, but it does not create a federal cause of action or claim against the Secretary. Current law does not provide any of the procedures that Plaintiffs appear to be seeking,'' Schmidt's attorneys said in a court filing.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, held a hearing Friday on the lawmakers' request for an order blocking the state's guidance. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its state arm are stepping in to defend Schmidt.
Both the DNC and Mr. Schmidt's office argued that the congressman lacked legal standing and in any case waited too long to file a lawsuit.
“The court cannot even reach the merits of the case because the complaint contains multiple threshold flaws that would prevent the plaintiffs from making last-minute requests to disenfranchise military members and other Pennsylvania voters. , because it is clear that this lawsuit is actually an effort to sow doubt in the public's election,'' the DNC wrote in a court filing.
John Jones, who preceded Conner as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said in a briefing with reporters last week that the case was “an emblematic example of the cases he presided over during the 2020 election.” ”. The purpose is voter suppression.
“I think one of the things that Judge Connor will struggle with in this case, in my opinion, is why this information was brought forward so late when it probably should have existed for a long time.” said Jones, who is currently the presiding judge. of Dickinson College.
