We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Votes from overseas? Mail-in ballots have historically been rare, typically used only by U.S. service members abroad and a handful of other cases. That was until 2020. 

A new Democratic committee aims to activate overseas voters, ostensibly one of the “6.5 million” Americans living abroad — the only problem is there are only 2.8 million Americans living abroad who are eligible to vote. 

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today – $1 Trial

Republicans have filed suit in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, asking ballots of voters who never lived in those states to be set aside. Michigan District Court Judge Sima Patel and Wake Superior Court Judge John Smith dismissed the suits in Michigan and North Carolina Monday. 

The shadow of delayed vote counts already looms over 2024. And after years of lawsuits seeking access to ballots that would eventually be destroyed, the prospect of a mass of suspicious overseas votes does little to burnish the image of secure and fair elections in the United States.  

What is the Democrats Abroad Committee, and who is behind it? 

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today – $1 Trial

The group’s first committees were formed in London and Paris after the 1964 election by President Lyndon Johnson, himself no stranger to election fraud. Today, it’s a group of committees in several countries, but beyond get-out-the-vote media campaigns, the group’s activities are elusive. 

This cycle, the group spent tens of thousands on administrative and fundraising costs, but according to OpenSecrets, roughly a quarter millions dollars on “unclassifiable” expenses: unclassifiable events, unclassifiable consulting, and unclassifiable printing and shipping. 

Those activities aside, other figures now linked to Democrats Abroad could indicate Democrats Abroad’s efforts are part of a pull-out-all-the-stops Democrat effort to prevent Trump, now rising in the polls, from taking the prize. 

Norm Eisen, the force behind lawfare against former President Donald Trump, stumping for Democrats Abroad does little to quell critics’ fears. 

Eisen authored the seminal guide to executing regime change using soft power: the “color revolution.” Eisen was Ambassador to the Czech Republic under Barack Obama’s administration, and served as President Obama’s ethics czar. Eisen has written extensively on Czechoslovakia’s “Velvet Revolution” and hosted rising Ukrainian leaders in Prague on the heels of 2014’s Maidan Revolution. 

But Eisen also figured prominently in groups active in “fortifying” — Time Magazine’s coinage — the 2020 election, immortalized in the remarkably titled, “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election.” Leading up to 2020, Eisen participated in wargames with government and military officials anticipating a full collapse of public trust in U.S. elections. 

His appearance on behalf of Democrats Abroad may signal deeper commitments than turning out overseas voters. 

As for overseas ballots, critics say the process for requests is inherently flawed. In Michigan, for instance, a social security number and address are required. But not in other states, and Democrats Abroad encourages people to apply even without a social security number or valid ID because most states will accept the application form.

In any case, with the prospect of delayed vote counts, and those delays hinging on overseas votes as in Georgia’s case, the tensions of 2020 remain with little to instill confidence in 2024.