By Maria Ortiz
Sep 27, 2024, 7:55 PM EDT
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday against Alabama and his Secretary of State, Wes Allen, alleging that a state program violated federal law by remove voters from their electoral lists too close to the general electionthus damaging their right to vote.
While states can remove a person’s name from their registered voter lists if, for example, the person requests to be removed, has died, or, in many places, has been convicted of certain crimes, the National Voter Registration Act Voters establish what is known as a “period of silence” before the federal elections for most states.
Alabama and other states covered by federal law They cannot systematically remove names less than 90 days before a federal election.
According to the Department of Justice, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced the launch of a “process to eliminate non-citizens registered to vote in Alabama” on August 13, 2024. That was 84 days before the general elections on November 5.
According to a news release, Allen identified and directed county election officials to 3,251 registered Alabama voters will be removed from their voter rolls to whom the Department of Homeland Security had issued “non-citizen identification numbers”.
A department review found that both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens received letters saying they your voter registration was inactive and? had been placed on track to be removed from the state voter registration list in Alabama.
The Justice Department declared this process a “systematic voter suppression program” that has ensnared American citizens, both those born in the United States and those naturalized, and has put them at risk of no longer appearing on Alabama’s voter registration list.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights of our democracy,” said Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
“As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama address voter confusion resulting from its list-keeping mailings sent in violation of federal law. Officials across the country should be aware of the National Voter Registration Act’s clear and unambiguous restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts conducted within 90 days of an election. The Quiet Period Provision of federal law exists to prevent eligible voters from being removed from the rolls as a result of error-prone last-minute efforts.”
“The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool it has available to ensure that the voting rights of all eligible voters are protected,” Clarke said.
Allen’s August initiative comes as Republicans across the country are calling for new restrictions to ensure that Non-U.S. citizens do not vote in U.S. elections.
Alabama faces a similar lawsuit filed this month by voting rights groups and Alabama citizens represented by attorneys led by the Campaign Legal Center.
It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections and proven cases of non-citizen voting are extremely rare.
Keep reading:
• Alabama sued for suppressing voting rights for new citizens
• Republicans promote bill that will prevent voting without proof of citizenship
• Supreme Court limits voting without proof of citizenship in Arizona