Pennsylvania Overseas Voters Face Ballot Challenges Ahead of Tight Election

 

Mariam Larson, a Canadian resident from British Columbia, was surprised and dismayed to learn her absentee ballot for Pennsylvania was being challenged, despite her decades-long practice of voting by mail in federal elections. After submitting her ballot in late October, she received a notice from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, informing her that her ballot was under dispute, and she was urged to respond before a scheduled hearing on November 8. Larson's ballot was challenged on grounds that she resides outside the U.S., is not a military member, and therefore supposedly does not meet Pennsylvania's residency requirement for voting.

Larson’s case is not isolated; she is among over 4,000 overseas Pennsylvanian voters whose ballots have been similarly challenged across 14 counties, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Reports by Votebeat and LancasterOnline confirm the mass challenges, reportedly initiated through a mail-merge process, aimed at voters residing outside the U.S.

While Pennsylvania law mandates residency to cast a vote, federal law grants overseas U.S. citizens the right to vote in federal elections in their last U.S. state of residence. The ACLU maintains these challenges are invalid and has urged all Pennsylvania counties to dismiss them swiftly to prevent disruptions in ballot processing. In 2020, Pennsylvania received and counted 26,952 ballots from overseas voters, which the ACLU argues are protected under federal law.

The challenge against Larson was filed by Karen DiSalvo, a lawyer associated with the Election Research Institute, an organization led by activist Heather Honey, who has previously promoted unfounded election fraud claims. DiSalvo recently lost a federal lawsuit challenging overseas voters’ eligibility, which was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

So far, challenges have been reported in Pennsylvania counties including Bucks, Lancaster, and Lycoming. Pennsylvania law allows voters to dispute another’s mail-in ballot, but officials have not yet clarified how they will manage the challenges. Even if dismissed, these cases emphasize the ongoing attempts by allies of former President Donald Trump to cast doubt on the election’s integrity. In September, Trump falsely suggested that overseas ballots could be fraudulent, further adding to the climate of suspicion around mail-in voting.

With Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes highly contested, polling shows a close race, and both major campaigns are taking an aggressive stance on vote-counting regulations. Recently, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled that ballots missing a written date will be disqualified. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that voters who omit the protective secrecy sleeve can still cast provisional ballots on Election Day. Both cases were brought forth by Republicans, seeking to exclude votes based on procedural errors.

As Election Day approaches, the handling of these ballot challenges remains a contentious issue, with potential implications for the overall result in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground in the 2024 election.