While Alabama leaders applauded the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision allowing Virginia to remove illegal voters from its rolls, state leadership was mum on whether the state would try to reimplement its own voter purge program, which was recently blocked in federal court.
Wednesday's SCOTUS decision reversed a federal judge's ruling against the state's efforts to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls.
The Biden administration and other advocacy groups sued the state, claiming Virginia's voter removal process violated the 90-day "quiet period" under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which prohibits "systematic" voter roll maintenance during that period. The State of Virginia argued in its emergency motion to SCOTUS that its program is individualized and, therefore, does not fall under the rubric of the NVRA's 90-day provision. Wednesday's SCOTUS decision fell in favor of Virginia, allowing it to remove the suspected non-citizen voters.
Alabama has also faced a recent federal court strike-down for its voter purge decision.
In August, Alabama Secretary of State Wes 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 non-citizen 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.
Like Virginia, the Biden administration and other organizations sued the state, claiming the program violated the 90-day period within the NVRA.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco blocked the program from taking effect shortly after.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined several other states in support of Virginia's emergency appeal. However, it is still unclear if the SCOTUS decision would allow Allen's program to continue if appealed.
In a statement provided to 1819 News, Allen applauded the decision. However, neither Allen nor Marshall's office responded to inquiries about whether the decision affected Alabama's program or whether the state planned on appealing Manasco's ruling.
"Today, the United States Supreme Court restored common sense to the issue of whether non-citizens should be able to register and/or vote in our elections," Allen said. "Only US citizens are legally allowed to register to vote and cast a vote. Alabama joined the State of Kansas along with 24 other states in filing a brief in support of the Virginia case and I am proud to see this positive development. Today's ruling is a victory for the U.S. Constitution."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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