The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, accusing the state of illegally purging people from voter rolls too close to the November election.
Federal officials said the purge violates the “quiet period provision” of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits the systemic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election.
Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen in August announced an initiative “to remove noncitizens registered to vote in Alabama.” More than 3,000 people who had been previously issued noncitizen identification numbers will have their voter registration status made inactive and flagged for possible removal from the voter rolls. The Justice Department said both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens, who are eligible to vote, received the letters saying their voting status was being made inactive.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”
The lawsuit asks for injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote on Nov. 5.
“I was elected secretary of state by the people of Alabama, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections,” Allen said in a statement issued Friday night. He said he could not comment on pending litigation.
