DOJ Sues Alabama Over Voter Suppression Program

The Justice Department sued the state of Alabama on Friday, Sept. 27, over the program, which prosecutors say violated federal law by attempting to remove voters from state registration rolls less than 90 days before an election and incorrectly included some native-born and naturalized American citizens.

The plaintiffs are asking the judge to halt the effort to reinstate eligible voters who received notices that they would need to update their voter registration forms. They were told they could not re-register until 14 days after the November 5 election.

The lawsuit is the first legal action by the Biden administration to block state efforts to reduce voter rolls at a time when many leading Republicans, including GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, have made false claims of widespread voter fraud, including by undocumented immigrants.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R), who is named as a defendant in the suit, said last month that The state has identified 3,251 people who were previously issued a noncitizen federal identification number and whose voter status would become inactive. He acknowledged that there may be some people on the list who have since become naturalized citizens, and said they would need to update their voter registration.

Allen’s office released a statement Friday saying it “does not comment on pending litigation in which the Secretary of State is a named defendant.” The statement also included comments from Allen, who said it was his “constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections.”

Justice officials said so Alabama’s program violated federal laws that prohibit states and localities from removing large numbers of voters from the rolls in dates too close to elections, during what is known as a 90-day “quiet period”. The statutes exist, officials said, because such actions are often error-prone and can cause confusion for voters, who have very little time to correct any errors or problems.

Federal authorities said their own review of Alabama’s list of noncitizens found that the state improperly included some native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens.

“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama address voter confusion resulting from list maintenance correspondence that violates federal law.”

Voting in federal elections without citizenship is illegal, and research has shown that it rarely happens. Trump and his supporters have focused a lot of attention on the issue in recent months, and House Republicans are pushing legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Conservatives argued it would ensure only citizens would vote, while critics say it would disenfranchise veteran voters who don’t have easy access to birth certificates, passports or other documents. In several states, conservatives have filed lawsuits to force election officials to do more to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.

this month Arizona was rocked when election officials learned that the state’s computer systems had improperly registered about 98,000 voters. as if they presented proof of citizenship. The state’s highest court took up the matter within days and ruled that officials should not change the voting status of these residents because the election is too early.

In addition to restoring the rights of eligible voters and blocking any further violations of the quiet period, federal prosecutors are asking the court to compel Alabama to send information to educate voters about restoring their rights. The plaintiffs are also demanding training for local officials and election workers to alleviate confusion and mistrust among eligible voters who have been wrongly accused of not being citizens.

The Alabama program is already facing a separate legal challenge from a coalition of civil rights groupswhich said in a lawsuit last week that the state is “targeting its growing immigrant population through a voter purge designed to intimidate and disenfranchise naturalized citizens.”