For decades, federal law has guaranteed that U.S. citizens living abroad could cast ballots in federal elections.

Republicans historically championed overseas votes, particularly those from active-duty military members. But as civilian voter participation abroad has risen and become a greater part of the overseas vote share, the GOP has changed its tune, launching a multi-pronged effort to suppress overseas votes, which it has framed as suspicious and potentially fraudulent.

Recent legal battles in Arizona, Michigan and North Carolina — where disenfranchising overseas voters was central to the failed Republican bid to steal a Supreme Court seat — underscore a growing trend by the GOP to disqualify ballots cast in state elections by longtime eligible citizens born and living overseas. Voting rights advocates and Democrats say these attacks are part of a broader partisan strategy, driven by shifting demographics and political patterns in the overseas electorate.

“The GOP is really trying to make it more difficult, if not impossible, for Americans to vote when they’re living abroad,” Martha McDevitt-Pugh, International Chair of Democrats Abroad, told Democracy Docket. “They’re actively trying to rip away the right to vote from American citizens.”

Over 4 million U.S. citizens are eligible to vote through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), signed by former President Ronald Reagan. But voter turnout from overseas U.S. citizens overall remains low at less than 10% of those eligible.,,,,,,

The Trump administration is working to further erode overseas voting rights. Both Trump’s anti-voting executive order and the SAVE Act, which Republicans continue to push, would impose strict citizenship documentation requirements and ban the counting of ballots received after Election Day — provisions that directly contradict UOCAVA’s long-standing protections.