US military service members abroad caught in the middle of an overseas election battle between House Democrats and the Republican Party

A group of House Democrats is protesting proposed GOP-led voting restrictions that would suppress overseas ballots, arguing that the measure — the latest in a series of GOP-led efforts to strengthen election security — is overly restrictive and risks disenfranchising thousands of US military personnel. parked outside.

The protest comes just weeks after six of the eight House Republicans in Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month aimed at getting the Keystone State to add additional vetting processes for U.S. residents who live abroad.

The Republican plaintiffs argued that current law allows these residents to register and vote in elections without proper identification. They can then “receive a ballot via email and then vote without providing identification at any stage of the process,” the group claimed.

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The city of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. (Adam Shaw/Fox News Digital)

But that claim was met with fierce resistance from the half-dozen Democrats in Congress, who argued that the level of verification sought by Republicans would disenfranchise “tens of thousands” of foreign-born voters in their states — including, most importantly, military and military personnel. from the USA. women stationed abroad.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, six Democrats, all of whom served in the US military, expressed deep concern about the process and its potential to discount the votes of US military personnel in key states.

The letter, sent by Reps. Pat Ryan of New York, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, and Mike Thompson and Salud Carbajal of California, and shared with Fox News, argued that the GOP-led push is a baseless attempt to discount the votes of a once-Republican demographic that has shifted in recent years to favor Democratic candidates.

The process, they added, threatens to disenfranchise “tens of thousands” of military personnel abroad.

And in a close election, this group of voters could play a decisive role.

More than 1.2 million overseas votes were cast in the 2020 election, according to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. In Pennsylvania alone, there are around 25,000 registered voters in the US living abroad.

“Election denier extremists, fearful of losing this election, are actively working to disenfranchise members of our military deployed outside of the United States,” Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, told Fox News.

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Six Pennsylvania House Republicans have filed a federal lawsuit to pressure the Keystone State to add additional vetting processes for U.S. residents living abroad. (iStock)

All six Republicans named in the lawsuit also voted against certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in the 2020 election, she added.

But in the final run-up to Election Day, in a dead-end presidential race, these court battles are not just limited to Pennsylvania.

In recent weeks, the Republican Party has filed similar lawsuits challenging the overseas registration process for voters in North Carolina and Michigan, each considered a “contested” state in the 2024 elections, and where Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump are almost tied. neck to neck.

GOP plaintiffs argued in both states that overseas voters do not meet the necessary criteria to register and vote in elections.

Asked to comment, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, one of six Republican plaintiffs from Pennsylvania, told Fox News the case “is simple.”

The Pennsylvania Department of State is “illegally diluting the legitimate votes of the brave men and women who serve our nation and their families,” he said in a statement. “Unelected career bureaucrats have no right to ignore the federal laws that guarantee our elections.”

“In the Marine JAG Corps, I made daily trips to the red zone in Baghdad, this is personal for me,” he added. “I will always stand up for those in uniform who deserve to have their right to a safe election protected.”

Houlahan dismissed the lawsuits in a statement of his own, however, describing them to Fox News as an “attack on the patriotism of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and guardians who swore an oath to defend and protect the United States”, and on their spouses and families. who also live abroad.

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“It is desperate, cynical and unconstitutional to try to deprive American citizens – no matter where they live – of their right to vote and have their votes counted,” Houlahan said.

There are also important questions of legitimacy in each case.

While federal law allows individual states to set their own election rules, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA, tasks the secretary of defense with implementing registration and voting for U.S. military and government employees. who live abroad.

The UOCAVA, passed in 1986, states that the voting process for Americans living abroad should not be “unduly burdensome.” It has also twice been significantly revised and modernized to improve the overseas voting process, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

These changes were ordered in 2001 in response to controversy over the 2000 presidential election, including votes cast by U.S. voters in Florida and abroad, and then in 2009 as a result of new efficiency standards included in the 2010 NDAA.

Vice President Kamala Harris greets North Carolina Air National Guard personnel in Charlotte, North Carolina. (AP/Chris Carlson)

“While some of our colleagues actively seek to sow discord and misinformation, we urge you to comply with President Biden’s executive order and federal law to the best of your ability and ensure that all Americans have the constitutionally guaranteed right to participate in federal elections,” , the lawmakers told Austin in their letter.

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It’s unclear what the lawsuits will look like, though a judge in Michigan said last week that Republican plaintiffs have waited too long to take their claims to court, noting that the court “shouldn’t change the rules for this two-year election – and – half a week ahead of time.”

North Carolina, meanwhile, will hear from Republicans this week.

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