There are Republican challenges to overseas and military voting

UOCAVA Voter Registrations in Pennsylvania and a U.S. Supreme Court Action Against the Trump Administration: A Case Study in a Field of False News

Former President Donald Trump, however, has been focusing his criticism on overseas voters who are not connected with the military. In a September post on his social media platform, the Republican presidential nominee appeared to reference the Democratic National Committee’s new voter-registration push among U.S. citizens living abroad, saying without evidence that Democrats “want to dilute the TRUE vote of our beautiful military and their families.”

More than 938,000 UOCAVA voters had ballots counted in the 2020 general election. And for this fall’s election, Pennsylvania has sent more than 25,000 ballots to overseas voters, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

A congressman who served two tours in Iraq as a battalion intelligence officer said it’s unacceptable to cut trust in the elections when they’re free.

In court filings for all three lawsuits, the Republican groups have asked the courts to at least order election officials to set aside the returned ballots of UOCAVA voters and not count them in the final election results until the voters’ eligibility can be confirmed.

Election workers are under public pressure to report accurate vote totals as soon as possible and could be confused by a new process.

The election rules in swing states allow UOCAVA voters their ballots to be delivered up to seven days after the election, according to Kathy Boockvar.

Six Republican members of the US House of Representatives are claiming in a federal lawsuit that Pennsylvania didn’t certify the electoral votes for 2020 because they had voted against it.

A statement from Matt Heckel was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The problems aren’t real but fuel an outrage machine, which is why we are currently in a cycle of spectacularly invented controversy, says a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School.

Election officials are concerned that the legal challenges may deter eligible voters from casting ballots and cause questions about the upcoming results.

Attorneys are now waiting for rulings from the Michigan judge and the Pennsylvania case’s federal judge, who also held a hearing last week. There will be a hearing next Monday in the North Carolina lawsuit.

Many legal experts do not expect these cases to go anywhere. Apart from any legal arguments, they point to procedural problems.

U.S. Citizens Cannot Vote in Pennsylvania: Why the RNC is Doing What It Ain’t Trying To Do

Angela Benander, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, noted that among the citizens whose voting rights the RNC is “targeting” are the “children of active-duty military service members who are making sacrifices for our freedoms.”

The Superior Court found there was no need for an emergency court order to prevent overseas citizens from voting in North Carolina because there was no evidence of fraud.

But the state election offices named in these lawsuits point out that these rules have been in place for years to help minimize barriers that can keep U.S. citizens from exercising their right to vote.

The RNC chair said that Michiganders and North Carolinans should not have their votes canceled by people who have never lived in the state.

They argue that Pennsylvania’s election rules — which do not require eligible overseas voters to show identification when registering or, if voting for the first time in a federal election in the state, turn in a copy of their ID with their absentee ballot — skirt identity verification requirements for voters registered by mail under a federal law known as the Help America Vote Act.

GOP groups have filed lawsuits in several states in the final weeks before the election that challenge the integrity of ballots cast by US citizens living abroad.

Lang of the campaign legal center is worried about the costs of the controversy on eligible voters abroad, even if the lawsuits are thrown out.

In the Michigan case, Judge Sima Patel of the state’s Court of Claims issued an opinion that underscored the fact that the RNC brought its case weeks before the last day of voting in this fall’s election. Patel said the lawsuit was an attempt to deny the electors of their right to vote in the election.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of Michigan: Instructions and Notifications for U.S. Citizens

For years, Michigan has allowed eligible uniformed service members and other citizens living outside the U.S. to vote in federal elections, as required by a federal law known as the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The guidance was issued by Michigan’s secretary of state and states that if a US citizen who has never resided in the United States but have a parent, legal guardian or spouse who has resided in Michigan, they are eligible to vote.

The secretary of state manual for election officials has guidance that is consistent with both federal and Michigan law.

Many legal experts say these cases are also not likely to go anywhere in part because they were filed after officials started sending out ballots to overseas voters.