A group of left-wing and self-proclaimed non-partisan voter advocacy organizations have sued the State of Alabama over Secretary of State Wes Allen's recent attempts to prevent non-citizens from voting in elections.
Last month, Allen announced that his office was implementing a process of removing ineligible non-citizen voters from Alabama's rolls ahead of the November elections. Allen said he identified 3,251 noncitizen voters on the state's rolls and had instructed Boards of Registrars in all 67 Alabama counties to inactivate and initiate steps necessary to remove them and any other ineligible voters from the voter file.
Subsequently, Allen didn't flinch after a coalition of left-wing and advocacy organizations sent a letter threatening possible legal action against the state if he did not stop his purge of noncitizen voters, claiming it violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
Allen said the voters were identified through noncitizen identification numbers, also called alien identification numbers, issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Allen acknowledged that some individuals who were issued noncitizen identification numbers may have become naturalized citizens since receiving their number. He stated that naturalized citizens could update their information on a voter registration form to vote in the state's elections once they were verified.
The Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Fair Elections Center and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed the suit on behalf of naturalized citizens and other advocacy groups, claiming Allen's methods wrongly targeted naturalized citizens who once had noncitizen identification numbers before gaining citizenship. It names Allen, Attorney General Steve Marshall and chairs of Boards of Registrars of Elmore, Jefferson, Lee and Marshall Counties in the lawsuit.
Voter Purge Lawsuit. by Craig Monger on Scribd
"The Purge Program, designed by Secretary Allen and implemented by Secretary Allen, Attorney General Marshall, and Alabama county Boards of Registrars, undermines the fundamental right to vote," the lawsuit reads. "The Purge Program inactivates and constructively removes thousands of Alabamians from the active voter rolls shortly before the November 2024 general election and forces them to needlessly re-register in order to vote and be registered to vote, based solely on Secretary Allen's belief that they were at one point issued a noncitizen identification number—even if they have since become naturalized citizens and lawfully registered to vote."
Two plaintiffs in the suit claim they were served a notice informing them that they had been moved to inactive voter registration status due to Allen's program.
The suit claims that Allen's purge violated federal law in several ways—namely, the 90-day buffer in the NVRA, which forbids states from implementing any program that systematically removes the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters within 90 days of a general election.
The lawsuit also argues that Allen's requirements for now-naturalized citizens violate the NVRA's limitation on proof of citizenship, which requires only an attestation under penalty of perjury that the registrant is a U.S. citizen.
"Naturalized citizens are immigrants who have worked hard to become American citizens and, like all other Americans, they deserve and have the right to vote without facing unnecessary hurdles and harassment from the government," the CLC said.
It added, "To ensure all voters' voices can be heard, the court should step in to ensure that no Alabamian is deprived of the ability to exercise their freedom to vote."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
