As Trump woos overseas voters, Republicans seek restrictions in court

By Luc Cohen

(Reuters) - Republicans are suing in three crucial battleground states to try to stop what they call illegal overseas voting, even as their presidential candidate Donald Trump courts Americans living abroad in his race against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The cases come as Republicans have launched an aggressive legal campaign nationwide through lawsuits they say are aimed at restoring faith in elections by ensuring people don't vote illegally, but which Democrats and legal experts say are intended to sow doubt in the legitimacy of the process.

In lawsuits filed in Michigan and North Carolina state courts on Tuesday and Oct. 2, respectively, the Republican National Committee argued that state election laws improperly allowed U.S. citizens living abroad who had never lived in those states - but whose relatives had - to vote there. 

"North Carolinians and Michiganders should not have their votes canceled by those who've never lived in the state," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement on Tuesday. 

In a separate federal case filed on Sept. 30 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a group of Republican Congress members argued their state was improperly exempting overseas voters from verification requirements.

The cases were each filed around a month before the Nov. 5 election. Judges have not yet issued rulings, and the states' existing overseas voting procedures remain in effect. 

In a motion to intervene in the Pennsylvania case, the Democratic National Committee said the Republicans' goal was "setting aside tens of thousands of ballots cast by lawfully registered military and overseas voters." 

The office of the Pennsylvania secretary of state, who is a Republican, called the Republican lawsuit "an attempt to confuse and frighten people ahead of an important election," and said people can face felony charges if they submit false statements when registering to vote.

A hearing is scheduled for next Friday.

Patrick Gannon, a spokesperson for North Carolina's state board of elections, said the law had been on the books for more than 13 years, and that the U.S. citizens being challenged by Republicans would otherwise have no way to vote. He said early voting had already begun in the state.

"The time to challenge the rules for voter eligibility is well before an election, not after votes have already been cast," Gannon said on Friday

Some 2.9 million U.S. citizens living abroad were eligible to vote in 2020, though fewer than 8% of them did, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, a government entity that helps military members and other U.S. citizens living abroad with election logistics. 

Trump has courted U.S. voters living abroad, including with a pledge earlier this week to lower their taxes by ending what the former president called "double taxation." (Some American expatriates are required to pay taxes to both the U.S. government and foreign authorities.) His campaign has not offered further details on the proposed policy. 

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Oct. 8 found Harris leading Trump by a marginal 46% to 43% nationwide, though the state-by-state results of the Electoral College determine the winner, with seven battleground states likely to be decisive. 

Trump carried Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2016, but Democratic President Joe Biden won both states in 2020. Trump won North Carolina both years, but former Democratic President Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and it is considered a battleground state this year.   

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis)