July 5, 2025

The RNC has moved its campaign against voting rights to target U.S. citizens living abroad. We are still more than a year away from the 2026 elections. This is just the beginning. 

On Monday, Republicans filed a lawsuit seeking to disenfranchise certain Arizona voters who are living overseas. Arizona law allows Americans living abroad to vote in the state if at least one parent is a registered Arizona voter. This follows a similar effort by Republicans to disenfranchise North Carolina voters and steal a state Supreme Court election.

To be clear, these voters are U.S. citizens, many of whom are the adult children of service members and diplomats, who have the fundamental right to cast a ballot — mail-in or otherwise.  

Republicans no longer hide their motivation in bringing these anti-voting cases: The citizens affected by the lawsuit are disproportionately Democratic. In fact, as the lawsuit notes, only around 18% of overseas voters in Maricopa County are registered Republicans. 

This is just the tip of the voter suppression iceberg. It’s part of a much larger Republican strategy to suppress Democratic voices via attacks on mail-in ballots, proof of citizenship requirements and restrictions on who is allowed to vote. 

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Republicans have been waging war against voting and free and fair elections for years. In the run up to the 2020 election, Trump ran a smear campaign against mail-in ballots. When he lost, he waged a futile effort to overturn the election in court. I am proud that I helped lead the effort to defeat Trump and his allies in more than 60 cases.

After the violent insurrection in the Capitol failed to stop certification, Trump made election denialism and the Big Lie the centerpiece of his political movement. It also became the core mission of the RNC.

Throughout the 2022 and 2024 elections, the GOP filed lawsuit after lawsuit, aimed at making it harder to vote and easier for their followers to cheat. Attacking mail-in voting remains at the core of this effort. Now, they are narrowing their focus to disenfranchise overseas and military voters.

Fortunately, the courts have largely rejected these efforts. My legal team and I have fought and won victories for voting rights from coast to coast. But we cannot rest on our past successes. 

Donald Trump is already attacking free and fair elections in 2026. He knows that the greatest threat to his grip on power is a Democratic Congress. So, the GOP’s attacks will continue to multiply. For Republicans, voter suppression is a feature, not a bug. Election denialism has become their brand. 

Yet, they know that their policies are widely unpopular – including their attacks on democracy and free and fair elections. It’s crucial that we protect the rights of U.S. citizens to vote everywhere — from Paris, Texas to Paris, France. Republicans are determined to silence our voices. We must recommit to speak out and fight back. 

YOUR READING LIST

• RNC Sues Arizona To Block Voting Access for Overseas U.S. Citizens - Democracy Docket
  
  
• DOJ Sides With Wyoming in Proof of Citizenship Voting Lawsuit - Democracy Docket
  
  
• GOP Lawmakers in Swing States Are Still Working To Suppress Voting - Democracy Docket
  
  
• New Target in GOP War on Voting: Mail Ballot Grace Periods - Democracy Docket