The Pentagon removes the overseas-ballot form option for U.S. citizens who have never lived in the country

What happened

In August 2026 the Defense Department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program removed the checkbox that U.S. citizens who have never lived in the United States use on the Federal Post Card Application. These are typically children born abroad to American parents. The program also deleted its state-by-state guidance telling them where they are eligible to vote.

The program invoked emergency authority to skip notice and comment under the Administrative Procedure Act. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia let these citizens vote, usually in the state where a parent last lived. The change came about three months before the election.

On October 1, 2026, the Democratic National Committee sued the Defense Department and OMB in federal court in Washington. The complaint notes that the Republican National Committee’s 2024 suits described these voters as ones who “overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates.” The same week, a lawyer challenging Nebraska’s law told a court the franchise is “precious” and should be denied to them.

Who benefited

The Republican Party, whose 2024 suits described these voters as overwhelmingly Democratic, now has the federal form on its side. The change removes a route to the ballot for the group without a vote in Congress or a rule.

Who wanted something

The Defense Department declared the emergency itself, through an agency whose job is to help overseas citizens vote. The emergency it cited was used to change a form three months before an election. The emergency it cited was the ground for skipping the normal public notice-and-comment process, three months before an election.

Who lost out

U.S. citizens born abroad who have never lived here lost their place on the only federal voting form, and their instructions disappeared with it. The 38 states and the District of Columbia that let them vote now have to explain to them how.

Why it matters

A federal form was changed to remove a specific group of citizens that the RNC itself has called overwhelmingly Democratic, by the Defense Department under emergency authority rather than through public process. The group is small in numbers and exact in target.

Sources U.S. District Court, D.D.C. (CourtListener) (primary)Democracy DocketDemocracy Docket