The RecordExhibit 124
Dropping the 'never lived in the U.S.' box from the overseas voter form weeks before ballots went out
Pending means: In court or under criminal investigation right now.
In late August 2026 the Pentagon used emergency requests to change the two federal forms that Americans abroad use to register and vote, removing the box for U.S. citizens born overseas who have never lived in the United States, a group that 38 states and the District of Columbia allow to vote and that Republican officials have been suing to exclude since 2024.
What happened
The box had been on the Federal Post Card Application and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot since 2013, added at the suggestion of state election officials and overseas-voting advocates; such voters are usually assigned to the last state where a parent lived. The requests came weeks before the Sept. 19 deadline for states to send ballots to overseas and military voters, and the Office of Management and Budget approved them. The remaining options require overseas citizens to swear that they intend to return to the United States or are uncertain about returning. Guidance for state election officials was not posted on the Federal Voting Assistance Program's website until about a month after the forms changed. The Pentagon says states can keep processing earlier versions of the forms. On Oct. 1 the Democratic National Committee sued the Defense Department in federal court in Washington, arguing that the change violated the Administrative Procedure Act by skipping notice and comment and could make it impossible for citizens born and living abroad to use the form to register where they are eligible. It asks the court to set the change aside and restore the January 2023 version of the form.
Where it stands
Pending. The DNC's lawsuit was filed on Oct. 1, 2026, and no judge has ruled. The Pentagon opened a 60-day public comment period on the form on Sept. 10, after the change had taken effect.
The administration's side
The Pentagon says the forms were changed to eliminate voter confusion, that the law has not changed and states still run the program the way Congress wrote it, and that states administer elections and can process any form or application that provides the information needed to verify a voter's eligibility. In an August letter to the budget office, Sean O'Keefe, the deputy under secretary for personnel and readiness, wrote that the existing forms may confuse voters about the information federal law requires and that, with the election less than 90 days away, there was no time for the normal review process. The department says it has changed its reading of the overseas voting law.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/overseasform/