Federal Court Dismisses Challenge to Ballots of Overseas Voters from Pennsylvania

PARIS - Oct. 30, 2024 - PRLog -- The Association of Americans Residents Overseas (AARO) announced today that a federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit brought by U.S. Congressmen from Pennsylvania in Reschenthaler v. Schmidt. The suit, brought just 36 days before the November election and after more than 25,000 overseas ballots had been sent to overseas voters in Pennsylvania, challenged the state's procedures for determining eligibility of overseas voters and asked for their ballots to be set aside for additional scrutiny before being counted.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and co-counsel quickly filed an amicus brief with the court on behalf of AARO, the U.S. Vote Foundation, other organizations, and individual voters.

The court's  decision was clear: "Plaintiffs delayed too long to file their action, they lack standing, they have failed to join indispensable parties, and they have failed to articulate a viable cause of action."  The court acknowledged the contributions by AARO and others in the amicus brief, noting that it "granted amici status to … several groups of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations who represent the interests of military and overseas voters, along with individual overseas voters who are registered to vote in Pennsylvania and thus have a unique interest in the outcome of this litigation."

"This decision is a great relief for Pennsylvanians living abroad. They can have confidence again that their voices will be heard when they cast their ballots.  AARO is proud to have been part of this collective effort advocating to preserve the voting rights of overseas Americans," said Doris Speer (https://aaro.org/about-aaro/meet-the-aaro-board/doris-speer), President of AARO.

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About the Association of American Residents Overseas (AARO)

The Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO) founded in 1973 and headquartered in Paris, is a global, non-partisan, non-profit association with members in over 40 countries that seeks fair treatment for Americans abroad by advocating the issues that negatively affect their lives. AARO also informs its members of their rights and responsibilities as Americans. See www.aaro.org  For more information, please email us at contact@aaro.org.