Since 2024, partisan actors in multiple states — including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and New Jersey — filed lawsuits challenging military and overseas voters’ right to vote. Campaign Legal Center filed a series of “friend of the court” briefs on behalf of nonprofits that protect the freedom to vote for military members and their families.
Back to topIn a victory for North Carolina voters, thousands of voters will be able to make their voices heard and not have their ballots wrongly discarded for the 2024 North Carolina Supreme Court race between incumbent Justice Allison Riggs and Judge Jefferson Griffin. As a result, Riggs will retain her seat on the state high court.
The courts affirmed...
Military and overseas voters already face more barriers than the average American in exercising their freedom to vote. For example, they must request an absentee ballot because they can’t vote in person, they don’t have the benefit of drop boxes, and living abroad can mean mail times are less reliable.
The Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) are federal laws that recognize the unique challenges military and overseas voters face and specifically protect their freedom to vote by guaranteeing that Americans who are living or serving their country abroad can vote in their home state in federal elections.
Partisan actors filed lawsuits in eight states challenging state laws that implement the protections of UOCAVA to protect the freedom to vote for military and overseas voters, including their spouses, children, and other dependents.
Additionally, in 2026, those same partisan actors began targeting these voters at the federal level, by forcing changes to the application and ballot used by military and overseas citizens to vote.
These actions directly threaten the freedom to vote for military and overseas families by weakening the protections offered to them by their home state under both federal and state law. In addition, these lawsuits instill uncertainty among overseas and military voters about whether they can register and vote and, if they do, whether their vote will count.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC), on behalf of Secure Families Initiative (SFI) and Count Every Hero (CEH) has filed a series of “friend of the court” briefs arguing that these lawsuits should be rejected.
Brave service members, their families and other Americans abroad should have the same opportunity to vote as every other American. CLC, SFI and Count Every Hero took legal action to defend laws that protect the freedom to vote for Americans living and serving abroad. We urge the courts to take swift action in both of these cases, so military and overseas voters can continue to make their voice heard in federal, state, and local elections.
