Voting Rights of Overseas Voters Threatened in Pennsylvania

The Brennan Center for Justice filed an amicus curiae brief in Pennsylvania Federal Court on October 18, 2024, on behalf of AARO, as well as other non-partisan organizations and individuals (“amici,” i.e., friends of the court), asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by several U.S. Congressmen from Pennsylvania and to deny preliminary relief.

In the lawsuit, Hon. Guy Reschenthaler, et al., v. Secretary Al Schmidt, et al., plaintiffs asked that the ballots of overseas voters voting in Pennsylvania be segregated until the identity and eligibility of the voters could be verified, claiming that a voter verification requirement for citizens abroad was required by law.   

In the brief, AARO and the other amici emphasized that this requirement does not exist and that Plaintiffs’ request would impose unnecessary barriers to voting and disenfranchise American citizens living abroad.   

They also stressed many additional points, including that, under federal law, overseas U.S. citizens have the right to vote absentee using the address from the state in which they last resided before leaving the United States; that American citizens abroad deserve to freely and easily vote in U.S. elections and to participate in the country’s electoral process, unimpeded by where they reside on Election Day; and, finally, that the Supreme Court has long recognized that “the right to vote” is “one of the most fundamental rights of our citizens.”  

The other amici were the U.S. Vote Foundation (who spearheaded the effort), American Citizens Abroad (ACA), Blue Star Families, Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas (FAWCO), and seven individuals, including former AARO Director Ellen Lebelle and current AARO Directors Ann Madden and Kristi Carroll-Lorin. Law firms O'Melveny & Myers and Myers, Brier & Kelly assisted Brennan in the filing.

You can read the amicus curiae brief here.