Eight Overseas Voter Lawsuits Target the Address That Sets Your State Tax
Lawsuits in eight states are challenging the right of U.S. citizens who have never lived in the United States to vote there, and the parents’ address registration at the center of them is the same one that can set your state tax residency. The Republican National Committee filed all eight, the most recent in New Jersey on July 9, 2026. Courts have ruled in three, splitting two to one against the challenges.
Four things a citizen abroad should take from where this stands:
- One state has ruled for the challengers: North Carolina, in a written order dated June 9, 2026.
- Two have been thrown out: Michigan in April, now on appeal, and Nebraska on August 12, with prejudice.
- Five still undecided: They remain open heading into the November 3 election.
- Your registration address is also a tax address: The state you register through can be the state that taxes you.
Below is where each case stands, what the filings argue, and the tax consequence that most coverage of this story leaves out.
The Lawsuits Target Citizens Who Registered Through a Parent’s Address
Federal law lets a U.S. citizen who has never resided in the United States register and vote in the state where a parent last lived. That covers people born abroad to American parents who have built their whole lives outside the country.
A U.S. citizen who has never lived in the United States and registers to vote using a parent’s last U.S. address. Roughly half the states allow this expressly, and the practice is long established.
The challenges argue that state constitutions require actual residence in the state, and that someone who inherited a tie to a place has not established one. The defense is that federal law and decades of state practice already protect these voters.
Scale matters here, and it is smaller than the coverage suggests. In Nebraska, the state reported that 116 voters statewide are registered under the provision that the RNC challenged.
Where Each State Case Stands, and Whether It Taxes Residents
Each case is paired below with the fact that decides the tax side: whether that state taxes the income of people it considers residents.
| State | Where the case stands | State income tax on residents |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | Summary judgment for challengers, written order June 9, 2026 | 3.99% flat |
| Michigan | Dismissed April 22, 2026, RNC appealed May 12 | 4.25% flat |
| Nebraska | Dismissed with prejudice August 12, 2026 | Up to 4.55% |
| Arizona | Pending | 2.5% flat |
| Virginia | Pending, hearing scheduled August 5, 2026 | Up to 5.75% |
| Colorado | Pending | 4.4% flat |
| Nevada | Pending | None |
| New Jersey | Filed July 9, 2026 | Up to 10.75% |
Rates are the current published figures from each state’s revenue department. Colorado’s 2026 rate has not been published yet and can move under the state’s surplus rules.
North Carolina Is the Only State Where a Challenge Has Won
A Wake County Superior Court judge granted summary judgment for the challengers, ruling in a written order on June 9, 2026 that never-residents may not vote in any North Carolina election, state or federal. It is the first, and so far the only, decision going that way.
Nebraska Dismissed the Challenge With Prejudice
On August 12, 2026, a Lancaster County District Court judge dismissed the RNC’s Nebraska suit with prejudice, finding that the state had identified at least one constitutional application of the law, which defeats a facial challenge. Dismissal with prejudice means the same claim cannot be refiled.
Michigan’s dismissal in April went the same way on different reasoning, though the RNC appealed on May 12, so that one is not finished.
The Filings Make an Electoral Argument, and the States Answer It
The RNC’s Michigan complaint is explicit about why these voters are the target. It argues that “historically overseas voters overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates,” and that “counting the ballots of ineligible overseas voters will disproportionally harm Republican candidates.” Filings in other states make a similar argument.
The states’ answer on two grounds: that federal law protects these voters, and that a facial constitutional challenge fails if any constitutional application of the law exists, which is the reasoning that ended the Nebraska case. Two of the three courts to rule so far have accepted that answer.
The Supreme Court Left Ballot Deadlines to the States
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Watson v. Republican National Committee in a 5-4 ruling, holding that federal law does not bar states from counting ballots cast and postmarked by Election Day but received afterward. Each state sets its own receipt deadline.
That is good news for voters abroad, whose ballots often travel a long way by international mail. It is a separate question from the never-resident cases, which continue on their own track.
Your Registration Address Can Decide Which State Taxes You
The registration choice at the center of these lawsuits is the same choice that can set your state tax residency. That is where an election story becomes a tax story, and it cuts in a direction few people expect.
A state that claims you as a resident for tax purposes has a strong interest in treating you as a resident generally. The reverse also holds: a state arguing you never established residence for voting has, on its own logic, weakened its claim to tax you as a resident. Those positions are hard to hold at once.
The Same Salary Is Taxed in Colorado but Not in Nevada
Two never-resident citizens, identical circumstances, different parents’ home states. One registered in Colorado, which taxes residents at 4.4%. The other is registered in Nevada, which has no individual income tax. On a $90,000 salary earned entirely abroad, that difference is roughly $3,960 a year, decided by nothing but which state a parent last lived in.
The state tax rules for Americans abroad and how state residency works once you have left are worth reading before you change anything, because the states that pursue former residents hardest are not always the ones with the highest rates.
About 2.8 Million Americans Abroad Are Eligible to Vote
The figure quoted in most coverage of this story is wrong. The Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Overseas Citizen Population Analysis estimated about 4.4 million U.S. citizens living abroad in 2022, of whom about 2.8 million were of voting age. The widely repeated claim of “5 million voters” conflates the two and relies on older data.
Even at 2.8 million, that is an electorate the size of a mid-sized state, spread across all 50 states with no dedicated representation in Congress. Turnout has historically run in the single digits as a share of that population.
Request Your Ballot Now and Expect It by September 19
Election Day is November 3, 2026. These dates come from FVAP, and none of them depend on how the lawsuits end.
- Send your Federal Post Card Application now. FVAP recommends 90 days ahead, which has already passed, so file it today and do not wait. It registers you and requests your ballot in one step.
- Expect your ballot by September 19. States must send ballots to overseas voters 45 days before the election.
- Return it by September 29 without military mail, or October 4 with an APO or FPO address. Those are FVAP’s recommended send-back dates. Your state sets the binding receipt deadline.
- Use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot as a backup. If your state ballot has not arrived in time, the FWAB covers federal offices. Send the official ballot too if it turns up later, and only one is counted.
- Check your state’s rules in your voting-from-abroad guide before assuming the federal timeline is enough.
One requirement that no longer applies: an executive order directing that documentary proof of citizenship be added to the Federal Post Card Application was permanently enjoined by a federal court on June 24, 2026, as contrary to the plain text of the law governing overseas voting. The form does not require it.
Check Your State Tax Position Before November
Frequently Asked Questions
Only North Carolina has a ruling against never-resident voters, and only one court has gone that way. Nebraska and Michigan dismissed the challenges, though Michigan is on appeal, and five states have not ruled. If your state has no ruling, the existing rules stand for this election.
It can, depending on the state. Registering to vote is one of the factors states weigh when determining residency, alongside a driver’s license, property, and family ties. It rarely decides the question on its own, and the weight varies considerably from state to state.
Yes. U.S. citizens file a return on worldwide income regardless of where they live, and the litigation does not affect that. The filing obligation and the voting question are governed by entirely separate law.
This article covers active litigation and reports the positions of the parties without endorsing any of them. Case postures are current as of August 13, 2026, and several are subject to appeal or further rulings. State income tax rates are the latest published figures and can change. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. For guidance on your own state tax position, work with a qualified tax professional with expertise in U.S. taxes for Americans living abroad.
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