Judge dismisses Pennsylvania Republicans' overseas voters lawsuit

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed six Pennsylvania Republican congressmen’s lawsuit that could have thrown thousands of overseas ballots into question in the key swing state.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner tossed the challenge on multiple grounds: waiting too long to file it, lacking legal standing, failing to include required parties and having no viable cause of action.

The six Pennsylvania Republicans asked that overseas votes be segregated, claiming the state was opening the door to fraud by not taking required steps to verify the ballots.

The request would have thrown into doubt the roughly 25,000 overseas ballots Pennsylvania has sent out this year, court filings show, a sizeable margin as polling indicates a razor-tight race in the state between Vice President Harris and former President Trump.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt's (D) office pushed back and said federal law exempts overseas ballots from the verification steps.

“An injunction at this late hour would upend the Commonwealth’s carefully laid election administration procedures to the detriment of untold thousands of voters, to say nothing of the state and county administrators who would be expected to implement these new procedures on top of their current duties,” Conner wrote in his ruling.

The judge went on to note that another plaintiff, PA Fair Elections, a conservative group focused on election integrity, has brought a similar administrative complaint that is currently on appeal.

“They may not rush to federal court to attempt an end-run around that process. The absence of a cause of action deprives this court of jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ case and compels us to grant defendants’ motion on this final alternative basis,” Conner wrote.

Conner, who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush, issued his ruling after holding a hearing on Oct. 18.

The six Pennsylvania Republicans who sued are Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Meuser, Glenn “GT” Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, Mike Kelly and Scott Perry. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), a moderate Republican, did not join them.

Neither did the Republican National Committee, which has unsuccessfully challenged certain overseas ballots in North Carolina and Michigan on other grounds.

The voting bloc, which includes members of the military stationed overseas and U.S. citizens living abroad, had generally been seen as favorable to Republicans. Republicans’ lawsuits come as that assumption has changed in recent cycles amid a decrease in the relative share of military voters.

“While Judge [Conner]'s decision to dismiss our efforts to ensure and strengthen voter integrity at the ballot box in Pennsylvania this year is disappointing, it is my great hope that Secretary Schmidt uses all means at his disposal to protect the principle of 'One Person, One Vote.' The eyes of Nation, and the World, are on Pennsylvania. We must ensure our votes are secure," Perry said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to the congressmen's offices and their attorney for comment.

Mychael Schnell contributed.

— Updated at 1:17 p.m.