JUDGE TOSSES ABSENTEE BALLOT LAWSUIT IN PENNSYLVANIA AFFECTING MILITARY VOTERS
Pennsylvania remains a key swing state in the 2024 presidential election, and amid multiple storylines to follow is a lawsuit that may be hindering the votes of thousands of military members. Republican lawmakers have filed a lawsuit to dispute absentee ballot submissions in Pennsylvania, which includes military votes.
How Many Military Absentee Ballots are in Pennsylvania?
It’s hard to say just how many absentee ballot votes in Pennsylvania are for the military; however, there is a total of around 25,000 votes in question, now held up by a GOP lawsuit.
Six Republican Congress members have filed a lawsuit that could mean the exclusion of military absentee ballots in Pennsylvania if identities aren’t verified, despite officials showing that the system complies with federal law and has shown no history of counting illegal votes.
Politics and Pushback
Veteran groups are fighting back against the lawsuit involving military absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.
Sadly, with such little time between now and the election, there are fears that last-minute changes are unfairly targeting thousands of military members who voted correctly from overseas but are now being challenged due to political motives.
Rep. Dan Meuser, one of the plaintiffs, says the lawsuit aims to uphold federal law and ensure election integrity; however, former Marine Capt. Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation (VV Foundation), argues the lawsuit targets military voters unjustly.
Goldbeck points out that many military voters overseas often serve in dangerous locations and should have their ballots respected and counted.
UOCAVA, HAVA, and the Pennsylvania Military Absentee Ballots
The lawsuit is challenging how the Keystone State is verifying identities through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).
Republican lawmakers allege that Pennsylvania wrongly exempted about 25,000 overseas absentee ballots from identity checks, including votes involving members of the military.
The lawsuit requests that UOCAVA ballots be set aside until voter identity and eligibility can be verified.
However, lawmakers are arguing that the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires verification with a driver’s license or Social Security number for voter registration.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) claims that HAVA exempts UOCAVA voters from identity verification on first-time ballots and doesn’t have a requirement for verifying information in databases.
Furthermore, Pennsylvania’s Department of State guide also doesn’t have requirements involving ID verification for absentee ballots, including those submitted by military and overseas voters.
The state requires voters to affirm the accuracy of their registration information under penalty of felony charges for false statements. Democrats maintain that Pennsylvania election officials are complying with both state and federal law in processing UOCAVA ballots.
GOP Lawsuit Has Officially Been Dismissed
On October 30, 2024, U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner decided to throw out the case filed by 6 Republicans that was seeking to implement new checks to confirm the idenity of Sailors, Soldiers, and other overseas voters, ensuring their eligibility to vote.
This is because the lawsuit was filed too close to Election Day. The Judge ended up agreeing with the Secretary of State, Al Schmidt, and his top deputies that there was no grounds to sue as the case was launched too close to Election Day. This decision was made because more than 25,000 overseas ballots had already been sent out by the time the case was filed in late September.
Officials determined that the votes had followed legal procedures and by dismissing the case, tens of thousands of voters will have their voices heard, including the Pennsylvania absentee ballot affecting military votes, which were briefly in limbo.
This case had the potential to impact thousands of ballots in Pennsylvania, which is a key swing state for the 2024 presidential election. The plaintiffs in this case have asked to have overseas and military ballots segregated for the remainder of this election season, as additional verification is pending.
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