I hope they bring it all out
Republican officials have filed lawsuits in three battleground states challenging the legitimacy of overseas ballots, including those cast by U.S. military personnel, claiming without evidence that such votes are rampant with fraud.
Election officials and experts, noting that the process of casting overseas ballots had not previously been controversial, have countered by arguing that the GOP lawsuits are meant to cast doubt on the election should the party turn in a poor performance.
The Republican National Committee recently
sued election officials in North Carolina and Michigan in state courts, claiming that they are allowing voters with unverified residency status to cast overseas ballots in their respective elections.
“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. This is illegal and we will stop it,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.
In addition, a
federal lawsuit filed last week by a group of House Republicans in Pennsylvania argues that voter ID requirements are not stringent enough to prevent fraud in overseas ballots. The suit alleges that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a Republican, has instructed officials to allow U.S. citizens voting overseas to be exempted from voter ID requirements.
Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina are three states that do not require overseas citizens first provide identification to be sent a ballot, a fact that former President
Donald Trump has
baselessly claimed would allow Democrats to steal the election. Those voting overseas have previously registered to vote in their last confirmed state of residency, where they needed to present ID and provide their signature.
Patrick Gannon, a spokesperson for North Carolina's bipartisan State Board of Elections,
told NBC News that the current rules have been in place for 13 years. A change, he said, would prevent military families and other citizens from casting a vote. If the GOP had an issue with this, he said, the party should have challenged the rules for voter eligibility "well before an election, not after votes have already been cast."
Michigan and Pennsylvania's top election officials have accused Republicans of trying to disenfranchise voters and spread mistrust about U.S. elections.
