RNC sues New Jersey in eighth lawsuit targeting overseas voters

By Yunior Rivas

Voters fill out their ballot papers in London, Tuesday, March 1, 2016 as voting begins in the U.S. Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block certain U.S. citizens living abroad from voting in New Jersey, marking the latest attack in the GOP’s nationwide blitz against overseas voters.

The lawsuit challenges New Jersey laws that allow certain Americans living overseas to vote in federal elections based on a relative’s residency in the state.

It is the eighth overseas voter lawsuit the RNC has filed in recent months, following similar cases in Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Nebraska, Colorado and Nevada.

“Democrats are allowing certain people who have never lived in New Jersey to vote in the state’s elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said. “The RNC is taking them to court to stop this unconstitutional scheme, protect lawful voters, and secure New Jersey elections.”

At issue are two provisions of New Jersey’s overseas voting law.

The RNC argues that the laws violate the New Jersey Constitution’s residency requirement by allowing some U.S. citizens born abroad to vote if a parent, legal guardian, spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner was formerly domiciled in New Jersey.

The complaint argues that these voters fall outside the protections of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA, the federal law that protects voting access for military and overseas voters.

The lawsuit asks the court to block New Jersey from registering these voters, remove affected voters from the rolls, segregate ballots returned by people who have never lived in New Jersey and prevent those votes from being counted. It also seeks an order requiring state officials to update public guidance and notify the federal voting assistance program that these voters are ineligible in New Jersey.

The New Jersey lawsuit comes less than two weeks after the RNC sued Nebraska, Colorado and Nevada over similar laws.

Taken together, the filings show the GOP’s anti-overseas voter campaign is no longer isolated. It is now a state-by-state legal strategy aimed at suppressing voting access for Americans abroad.