Judge dismisses GOP congressmen’s lawsuit over Pennsylvania overseas and military votes

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit by six Republican members of Congress to force Pennsylvania election officials to implement new verification checks for soldiers, sailors and others who vote from overseas and to ensure that they have the right.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner said he agreed with the defendants – Secretary of State Al Schmidt and one of his top deputies – who argued there was no cause of action and that the case was brought too late and too close to Election Day.

Pennsylvania congressmen “provide no compelling justification for waiting just a month before the election to file this lawsuit,” Conner wrote. The judge noted that when the case was opened in late September, more than 25,000 ballots had already been sent abroad.

The lawsuit was filed by six of the eight Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Representatives Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Mazer, J.T. Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, Mike Kelly and Scott Perry. Another plaintiff is PA Fair Elections, a group led by Heather Honey, an election researcher whose work has fueled right-wing attacks on voting procedures. Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday with their lawyers.

During Tuesday’s election news broadcast, Schmidt said his agency was “pleased that this frivolous lawsuit was dismissed.”

Conner said the plaintiffs were asking for “new review procedures, the contours of which the plaintiffs themselves have not been able to fully define until three weeks after the start of this litigation.” He said the injunction would “upend the Commonwealth’s carefully crafted election procedures, harming countless thousands of voters.”

During oral arguments Oct. 18, Conner questioned why the plaintiffs didn’t file their lawsuit sooner due to procedures that have been in place for years. He also required their lawyers to show how the current policies directly harmed their clients, as such lawsuits require.

The order, issued Tuesday, said Republican lawmakers have only “hypothetical concerns” about the impact overseas votes could have on their own re-election fight.

“Their status as candidates without anything else will lead to nothing,” the judge wrote.

The case could affect thousands of ballots in Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the presidential battle between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The plaintiffs asked the judge to declare the current practice illegal under federal law and order the Secretary of State’s Office to discuss with Congressmen and Fair Elections PA representatives how to verify the identity and voting rights of people voting under the US Citizens Act. and foreign citizens. Absentee Voting Law. They also asked that overseas and military ballots be separated during the current election season pending further review.

Lawyers for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, representing Schmidt and his deputy, argued that the plaintiffs argued that valid votes could be diluted by incorrect ones, which they said would not be a sufficient basis for the judge’s action. They said federal laws exempt foreign voters “from the identification requirements imposed on other voters who register to vote by mail.”

Military voters are more likely to be Republican, while other overseas voters tend to lean Democratic. The Democratic Party is spending money this year to boost voter turnout.