Judges reject RNC lawsuits challenging some overseas ballots in Michigan and North Carolina

Judges in Michigan and North Carolina rejected lawsuits brought by the Republican National Committee and others that challenged overseas ballots cast by voters abroad who never resided in the states.

Judges in Michigan and North Carolina rejected lawsuits brought by the Republican National Committee and others that challenged overseas ballots cast by voters abroad who never resided in the states. The rulings in two separate cases on Monday are setbacks in efforts by Republicans to target the overseas vote, which has long seen as sacrosanct because of its tie to the military, but now could be a crucial bloc for Democrats as the pool of civilian expats overseas now eclipses military voters serving outside the country. Former President Donald Trump and his GOP allies have heralded the cases as essential to securing the integrity of the 2024 election – but their arguments fell flat in court. The Michigan judge called the lawsuit an “attempt to disenfranchise” voters, and the North Carolina judge said Republicans “presented no substantial evidence” of the fraud they claimed they were trying to prevent. The RNC sued in Michigan and North Carolina to block state policies that allow for citizens abroad to cast ballots in those states if their parents (or, in Michigan, their spouse) resided in those states before leaving the country, even if the voters themselves never lived there. Judge Sima Patel of Michigan’s Court of Claims said in her ruling that Republicans were too late in filing their lawsuit, calling it “11th hour attempt to disenfranchise” spouses and children of former Michigan residents who now live abroad. In North Carolina, Wake County Superior Court Judge John W. Smith denied the RNC’s request for an emergency court order that would require election officials to set aside ballots from overseas voters who hadn’t themselves lived in the state.