Veterans advocates are decrying recent Republican challenges to overseas voting laws, saying the moves could disenfranchise troops stationed outside the United States trying to cast their ballot in next month’s election.
In a media roundtable Friday morning, officials from the Vet Voice Foundation — which works closely with the Democratic Party — criticized lawsuits in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan filed by the Republican National Committee questioning the integrity of overseas ballots and suggesting that some could be fraudulent.
The Pennsylvania suit alleges that state officials have moved “to exempt [overseas voters] entirely from any verification requirements,” calling it “an illegally structured election process.”
Six Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania signed onto the legal challenge. One of those, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, said in a statement that the current process is “unlawfully diluting the rightful ballots of the brave men and women who serve our nation and their family members” by allowing questionable ballots.
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Party officials have said they are not trying to block military votes from overseas, and do not believe the election challenges will have that effect.
But Democratic critics said their political opponents have not provided any evidence of fraud in the overseas voting process, and said they believe the real intent of the lawsuits is to cause confusion and distrust.
“Teams of people from both parties go through a meticulous list of steps to verify the vote count and check for accuracy,” said Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. “These baseless allegations undermine public trust in our election system, and worse, target the very people who have sworn to protect our Constitution.”
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, passed in 1986, requires that states provide a system for military members, their eligible family and overseas citizens to vote absentee in federal elections.
Nearly 3 million U.S. citizens living abroad are eligible to vote in the November 2024 elections. Less than 4% of that total voted in the 2022 U.S. elections.
Rules regarding absentee ballots vary by state, but generally must be received by Election Day to be counted.
“Each state, including Pennsylvania, has strict laws governing voter registration, verification and ballot transmission to ensure that only eligible citizens vote,” Goldbeck said. “The idea that this process lacks oversight is simply untrue.”
Nearly all overseas ballots have already been mailed out, further complicating questions about eligibility and election security. It’s unclear whether any of the lawsuits will be settled or dismissed ahead of Election Day, which is Nov. 5.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
