Michigan court tosses GOP bid to disenfranchise overseas voters

A Michigan court Thursday handed voters a major win — rejecting a Republican lawsuit that sought to disenfranchise U.S. citizens living abroad.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) cheered the ruling for rejecting a “disgraceful, coordinated attack against eligible Michigan voters.”

In a sweeping opinion, the Michigan Court of Claims dismissed the case brought by the Republican National Committee and state Republicans, upholding a law that allows certain U.S. citizens living overseas to inherit voting rights from their families in Michigan.  

The ruling marks the second time courts have shut down GOP efforts in Michigan to eliminate voting access for overseas voters — and comes just days after Republicans filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Virginia.

Judge Sima Patel made clear the stakes of the case from the outset, writing in the opinion’s first sentence that the GOP lawsuit aimed to “disenfranchise the spouses and voting-age children of Michigan service members and civilians working overseas.”

At issue was a Michigan law that allows voting-age children and spouses of Americans living abroad — including service members — to vote absentee, using their family’s last residence, even if they have never lived in Michigan themselves.

Republicans argued that the law violates the state constitution’s residency requirements. But the court rejected that claim, finding the legislature has the authority to define residency for voting purposes — including extending it to overseas families.

“At stake in this case is the right of the spouses and dependents of absent uniformed services and overseas voters (collectively “the subject group”) to register to vote and cast [absentee ballots] in Michigan,” the court explained. “Both federal and state law protect the right of the subject group to vote by [absentee ballot]. The federal government requires states to permit absent uniformed services and overseas voters, as well as their spouses and dependents, to apply for and vote by [absentee ballot].”

The decision reaffirmed that federal and state law are designed to protect the voting rights of Americans living abroad, a group that often faces unique barriers to participating in elections.

“It’s a defeat for this disgraceful, coordinated attack against eligible Michigan voters and our secure election process,” Secretary of State Benson said. “Every U.S. citizen has the Constitutional right to freely vote in every election – and we should all share a basic, nonpartisan commitment to making that right real for every American citizen.”  

She also called the decision a “victory for military service members, their families and the rule of law.”  

The ruling is a direct rebuke of the GOP’s broader legal strategy targeting overseas voters.

In recent years, Republicans have filed a growing number of lawsuits and pushed legislation aimed at restricting voting access for these voters, often arguing that some should not be allowed to participate in elections at all.

Courts, including now twice in Michigan, have repeatedly rejected those arguments.