DNC Sues Trump Administration Over Overseas Voter Registration Changes

The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, asserting that changes made to a postcard used by U.S. citizens living overseas have made it more difficult for them to register to vote. The lawsuit claims the Department of Defense declared an emergency to remove a specific box from the form, a box typically checked by voters who are U.S. citizens but have never resided in the United States.

This particular box has been part of the postcard sent to overseas voters since 2013. These voters, often children of U.S. citizens, are permitted to vote in 38 states if they maintain close family ties to the U.S. Republicans have previously initiated legal actions in various states aiming to prevent these voters, who tend to support Democratic candidates, from casting ballots.

The DNC's lawsuit argues that the administration implemented this change without providing adequate public notice. "These American citizens pay U.S. federal and state taxes, but now a years-old plan has culminated in a manufactured ‘emergency’ to justify impeding their right to vote in American elections and potentially disenfranchising them entirely," the lawsuit states. The Department of Defense, responsible for administering the form, has not yet issued a comment.

In 2016, an estimated 11,500 Americans living overseas who had never lived in the U.S. cast ballots. The lawsuit suggests this number has likely increased. Some of these individuals are already registered and are expected to receive ballots for the upcoming November election. Others have the option to check alternative boxes on the form, indicating they are citizens who either intend to return to the U.S. or do not intend to return, in order to receive ballots.

This action follows a directive from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth encouraging members of the military to vote en masse, suggesting their collective votes could outweigh those from Democratic-leaning jurisdictions. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) allows both military members and overseas civilians to vote. However, recent years have seen a trend of Democratic-leaning civilians overseas out-voting Republican-leaning military members, prompting Republican efforts to challenge the law. While Republicans have had success in one court case preventing votes from overseas citizens who never lived in North Carolina from being counted in that state, similar lawsuits in other states, including Michigan, have not yet been successful.

Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, a U.S. citizen residing in Munich and president of the U.S. Vote Foundation, expressed concern over the administration's move. Her daughter, also a U.S. citizen who has never lived in the country, votes regularly. "If this works in slicing off a piece of the electorate," Dzieduszycka-Suinat stated, "wait until the next emergency."