Judge rejects GOP bid to restrict overseas ballots in Pennsylvania

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A U.S. judge in Pennsylvania on Tuesday rejected a Republican-led lawsuit aimed at bolstering the vetting process for overseas voters – an effort that had sparked sharp criticism and concerns that it could disenfranchise thousands of Keystone State voters, including U.S. service members and their families.

The lawsuit was filed late last month by six out of eight House Republicans from Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation. The group had argued that the state law made it possible for overseas residents to register and vote in elections without proper identification. 

Voters can "receive a ballot by email and then vote a ballot without providing identification at any step in the process," the Republican plaintiffs alleged.

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The federal courthouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo, File)

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner dismissed the suit Tuesday as a "nonstarter," noting that the plaintiffs had waited too long to file their lawsuit, which seeks to update a law that has been on the books for 12 years. 

He also cited procedural issues with the case, noting they failed to produce evidence or articulate a "viable course of action."

"An injunction at this late hour would upend the Commonwealth’s carefully laid election administration procedures to the detriment of untold thousands of voters, to say nothing of the state and county administrators who would be expected to implement these new procedures on top of their current duties," Conner said.

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The push comes as Republicans in at least three swing states have sought to crack down on overseas voting in the final sprint to Election Day. The RNC and state-level groups in Michigan and North Carolina have also filed lawsuits in recent weeks seeking additional restrictions on a vetting and verification process they argue is devoid of proper safeguards.

The lawsuits sparked immediate protest from a group of House Democrats and former military members, who argued that the remedy sought by the plaintiffs was overly restrictive and risked disenfranchising thousands of U.S. service members stationed abroad. 

According to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), an estimated 1.6 million U.S. voters living overseas are eligible to vote in one of seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin. 

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Boxes of petitions signed for a proposed ballot measure sit in a committee room at the Arkansas Capitol in 2024. (AP)

The states, which carry a combined total of 93 Electoral College votes, are considered to be crucial in deciding the next president in a virtual dead heat race between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Pennsylvania has 19 on its own, giving it outsize importance in the election.

Earlier this month, a lawyer testified to the court that over 26,000 overseas ballots had already been cast in Pennsylvania. It’s unclear how many of those would be impacted by a court decision. 

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