DNC sues Trump administration over last-minute changes to overseas voting form | 2026 US midterm elections

The Trump administration broke the law by imposing a last-minute change to the form used by foreign citizens to register and request mail-in ballots, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

Until recently, the form, the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), gave overseas voters four options to choose from to describe their geographic location. Voters could say they needed an overseas ballot because they were on active military duty, living outside the United States with plans to return, or because they were living outside the United States and were unsure about returning.

The form also allowed voters to check a box if they were a U.S. citizen who had never lived in the country (38 states and the District of Columbia allow foreign-born citizens to vote in at least some elections even if they have never lived in the country).

In August, as the deadline for mailing overseas ballots approached, the Pentagon — the agency that oversees the form — submitted two emergency requests to change the form. Among the changes, the Pentagon sought to eliminate the ability for voters to declare that they are citizens who have never lived in the United States. The requests were quickly approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). NPR first reported the changes earlier this week.

“Trump and the Republicans are so desperate to cling to power that they are trying to eliminate the way some U.S. citizens abroad register to vote and request mail-in ballots. They know that Americans both at home and abroad will reject their destructive agenda, and they are working to disenfranchise as many voters as possible by any means necessary,” said DNC Chairman Ken Martin.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

The changes could sow confusion and discourage U.S. citizens who have never lived in the country from registering and voting, experts said.

“The Uniformed and Absentee Citizens Abroad Voting Act guarantees U.S. citizens abroad, as well as military personnel and their families, the right to vote, and nothing in this law requires a return plan. Changing the form does not change that right. It changes whether or not a voter identifies with it,” said Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and CEO of the US Vote Foundation, which works to help Americans vote abroad.

“If an overseas voter goes to the FPCA website, goes to get their federal postcard application to request their ballot, they will see that form and will have to sign it under penalty of perjury,” said a DNC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss the lawsuit. “They’re going to find that there’s no longer the check box that they used to check. And the other options might not be exactly right for them and they might not be able to comfortably or confidently sign that form and request their absentee ballot.”

In an August letter to OMB, Sean O’Keefe, deputy assistant secretary of war for personnel and readiness, said the department recently became aware of the option provided on the form for citizens who have never lived in the United States. The changes were necessary, he explained, because the existing versions “could confuse voters about the information they are required to provide under federal law.” He added that the changes could not follow a normal process because the elections were less than 90 days away and therefore had to be rushed.

DNC lawyers said in their lawsuit that the justification was pretextual and implausible.

The government “has at least 15 years of experience issuing guidance to U.S. citizens born and residing abroad, considering public comments regarding these candidates’ use of the FPCA, and modifying the FPCA to better serve these eligible voters,” they wrote.

In rushing these changes, the government violated the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law that requires government agencies to carefully weigh the impact of rule changes before implementing them. The OMB also failed to follow proper procedure in not allowing public comment in the Federal Register.

The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., asks a judge to declare that the government violated the APA and to overturn the government’s changes to the form.

According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, an estimated 2.2 million U.S. citizens living abroad are eligible to vote (the largest number of eligible citizens live in Canada and the United Kingdom). About 11% of eligible U.S. citizens living abroad voted in 2024.

It’s unclear how many U.S. citizens live abroad but have never lived in the country. A 2016 government report estimated there were about 11,590, although DNC lawyers estimate that number has increased since then.

The Pentagon changed the form as the Republican National Committee (RNC) pushed to prevent U.S. citizens who have never lived in the country from having their votes counted. Republicans have filed lawsuits in nine states challenging the policy of counting ballots for such voters. While a North Carolina court agreed with the Republicans, several other courts have rejected their arguments while other lawsuits remain pending.

In August, just as the Trump administration was rushing the change, the RNC released a statement saying it was “leading the fight to close a loophole that allows some people who have never lived in a state to vote in its elections. As the case heads to the Nebraska Supreme Court, the RNC is pushing to protect residency requirements and stop the spread of ‘nonresident’ voting nationwide.”

“Regardless of how many people are affected, as the DNC we want to defend the right of Americans to vote – American citizens eligible to vote at home and abroad,” the DNC official said. “It is simply offensive that the RNC is attempting to outright disenfranchise eligible American citizens. And it is offensive that (the Pentagon) is joining this campaign right before the election.”