by Fred Lucas
Two major battleground states allow overseas citizens that don’t live—and in some cases never lived—in their states to vote, the Republican National Committee says.
A group called Democrats Abroad, meanwhile, casts what it calls international voting as a “secret weapon” to win elections.
The RNC joined state Republican parties in Michigan and North Carolina in separate lawsuits to stop what plaintiffs allege to be illegal overseas voting.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are in a dead heat in the race for the White House in both states, polling within one percentage point of each other, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average in each state.
Michigan has 15 electoral votes and North Carolina has 16.
The Republican National Committee’s lawsuits name the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Michigan’s controversial Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as defendants, respectively. Spokespersons for both offices didn’t respond immediately to The Daily Signal’s inquiries for this story.
“North Carolinians and Michiganders should not have their votes canceled by those who’ve never lived in the state in the first place—plain and simple,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a public statement announcing the litigation late Tuesday.
“This is illegal and we will stop it,” Whatley said. “While Democrats want an election system that disregards the law, we are committed to election integrity across the country.”
The RNC has just filed two new UOCAVA lawsuits against:
-MI Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
-NC State Board of ElectionsWe need to ensure that overseas voters from random states don’t influence swing state elections. We will not let Democrats abuse UOCAVA.
— Michael Whatley (@ChairmanWhatley) October 8, 2024
A spokesperson for Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, criticized the litigation.
“This time, they’re targeting the voting rights of United States citizens and their families living overseas—including the children of active-duty military service members who are making sacrifices for our freedoms,” Angela Benander told The Daily Signal in an email. “It’s disappointing to see a national political party try to disenfranchise our military families, but at this point, unfortunately, it’s not surprising.”
“This is not a legitimate legal concern, just the latest in the RNC’s PR campaign to spread unfounded distrust in the integrity of our elections,” Benander said. “We will continue our work to ensure that every voter eligible under the law can make their voices heard in this election.”
Democrats Abroad notes that 6.5 million U.S. citizens living outside the country are eligible to vote, but often don’t.
“We could change every single election in this country based on overseas voters and expats alone,” says a pinned post at the top of Democrats Abroad’s X page, including a video.
The post adds: “People may no longer live in America, but they have the power to fix America. International voters not only have the numbers but they have the element of surprise. International Americans should see themselves as democracy’s secret weapon.”
“People may no longer live in America, but they have the power to fix America.”@IAmPoliticsGirl knows the Dems secret weapon…our US #VoteFromAbroad! Some state races are won by a few of votes, and that’s where our overseas votes make a difference.
Help us be not so secret!… pic.twitter.com/XDUrh4FZKf— Democrats Abroad (@DemsAbroad) September 27, 2024
North Carolina ranks No. 18 in the nation with a score of 70 on The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard ranking the states. Michigan ranks No. 27 with a score of 57.
The lawsuits assert that both states’ constitutions require individuals to be residents of the states to vote.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 allows U.S. citizens overseas to vote absentee in their state of residence. The law doesn’t expand voter eligibility to individuals who never were state residents, the RNC lawsuits assert.
The plaintiffs argue that Benson gave guidance to local election officials in Michigan to extend eligibility to overseas voters who don’t live in the state and possibly never lived there. The suit also claims that some may never have lived in the United States.
The North Carolina lawsuit asserts that a state law—the Uniformed Military and Overseas Voters Act, or UMOVA—is unconstitutional and extends voting eligibility to overseas residents who aren’t or haven’t been state residents.
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Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.”
