GOP challenges to overseas balloting rules stymied in two key battleground states

Republicans in two key battleground states were hit by twin legal setbacks Monday, after judges in Michigan and North Carolina rejected their efforts to crack down on overseas voting from U.S. residents living abroad, criticizing both the short timeline and the proposed remedy sought by the plaintiffs.

A claims court judge in Michigan described the effort as an "attempt to disenfranchise" voters living overseas, while a Superior Court judge in North Carolina said the plaintiffs "presented no substantial evidence" to back their claims that the current laws do not go far enough to protect against election fraud.

The two separate court rulings come just weeks after Republicans in Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina filed lawsuits aimed at restricting both the registration and vetting process for overseas voters. 

Republican plaintiffs argued that current law makes it possible for these residents to register and vote in elections without proper identification. That contention has been fiercely rejected by Democrats, who argued the level of vetting sought by Republicans would disenfranchise "tens of thousands" of voters abroad, including U.S service members and their families. 

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Judges in U.S. battleground states appear to back this line of thinking, following two separate decisions filed Monday. 

In Michigan, the Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel rejected plaintiffs' effort to invalidate a rule that allows spouses and dependents of U.S. service members stationed overseas to vote at that person's former home address, even if they never lived in the state themselves.