PHOTO COLLECTION: AP Top Photos of the Day, Monday, October 21, 2024

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.

A person fishes along the boardwalk as waves crash in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) reacts after being injured in the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Pilgrims arrive inside San Felipe Church to honor the Black Christ in Portobelo, Panama, early Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, during a festival celebrating the iconic statue that was found on the shore in 1658. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the locker room after their win against the New York Mets in Game 6 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. The Dodgers will face the New York Yankees in the World (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The New York Liberty celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA basketball final series to win the WNBA championship, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Britain's King Charles III listens to research scientist Dr. Matt Plucinski, right, describe the "Pyrotron" combustion wind tunnel during a visit to the CSIRO National Bushfire Behaviour Research Laboratory in Canberra, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tracey Nearmy, Pool)

A man casts his vote in a mobile ballot box in the village of Hrusevo, Moldova, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, during a presidential election and a referendum on whether to enshrine in the Constitution the country's path to European Union membership. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Relatives and neighbors cry as they watch the funeral of Kashmiri doctor Shahnawaz who was among those killed when gunmen fired at people working on a strategic tunnel project in Indian-controlled Kashmir, at Nadigam village, southwest of Srinagar, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Pope Francis attends a session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People take cover as a siren warns of incoming rockets during the funeral of Alexei Popov, who was killed during a rocket attack fired from Lebanon last weekend, at the Tel Regev cemetery in the outskirts of Haifa, northern Israel, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Documents of Hezbollah-run al-Qard al-Hassan are scattered at the site of an Israeli airstrike on Sunday night in Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Residents gather near flower blossoms as they take an evening walk at a public park in Beijing, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A cormorant gets a running start to take off from the calm waters of Northeast Harbor, Maine, at sunrise Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Courts in Michigan and North Carolina on Monday rejected attempts by Republicans to disqualify the ballots of certain overseas voters.

Both cases targeted people who have never lived in the state but were born overseas to parents who were residents of the state. The Michigan case also targeted the spouses of military and overseas voters.

A state judge in Michigan dismissed the Republicans' case because it was filed so late — less than a month before the Nov. 5 presidential election. But the judge also found that the election language allowing those voters to cast ballots complied with both state and federal law, as well as the Michigan Constitution.

The state GOPs and the Republican National Committee were among the plaintiffs bringing both cases, which were filed as part of a broader legal strategy against overseas ballots in presidential battleground states ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The RNC did not immediately return requests for comment.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson criticized the lawsuit in her state as frivolous and described Monday's ruling as a win for election integrity.

“This baseless lawsuit targeted the voting rights of U.S. citizens and their families living abroad, including the children of active-duty military service members,” she said in a statement. “It represents a new low in the ongoing PR campaign to cast doubt on the security of Michigan’s elections.”

In North Carolina, a judge hearing a case in Wake County Superior Court denied a preliminary injunction the Republicans were seeking against the state Board of Elections.

The decision will allow people who have never lived in the state, but were born overseas to parents or guardians who were North Carolina residents, to vote as usual in the November presidential election.

Republicans argued that North Carolina is allowing these “Never Residents” to vote under a 2011 state law that disregards the state constitution's requirement that voters be residents of the state. They contend those ballots could be part of an elaborate scheme to steal the election, a claim for which there is no evidence.

In the decision issued Monday, the judge said there is “absolutely no evidence” of any such fraud occurring in North Carolina and the Republicans had been unable to identify even a single case related to the group of voters they targeted.

The Democratic National Committee intervened in the North Carolina case and told the court that many of the affected voters are the children of U.S. military personnel stationed overseas. It argued that the 11th hour legal filing regarding a law passed more than 13 years ago aimed to sow distrust in advance in this year's election.

In Michigan, the judge noted that the language targeted by the Republicans' lawsuit had been in place since 2017.

“A challenge could have been raised at any time after 2017, and should have at least been brought earlier in the year leading up to the general election, not 28 days before,” Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima G. Patel said in the ruling issued Monday.

FILE - Dawn Stephens, right, and Duane Taylor prepare ballots to be mailed at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)