The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against the state of Alabama and its secretary of state, alleging an attempt to remove voters from state rolls. very close until November 5 general election in violation of federal law.
While states are allowed to purge voter registrations before an election, federal law says it must happen 90 days before the election.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen on August 13 announced the raid on what his office calls “non-citizen voters,” He says there are more than 3500 people Those who registered to vote were issued non-citizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security. His office did not specify when those voters received their ID cards.
Department of Justice Friday said That the voter roll purge announcement in Alabama occurred 84 days before the November 5 election and therefore violated the National Voter Registration Act.
“As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama address voter confusion caused by mailing lists that were sent in violation of federal law,” the Department of Justice said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “Officials across the country should heed the National Voter Registration Act’s clear and unequivocal limitations on systematic roll-keeping efforts for 90 days after an election.”
Allen’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation, but the secretary of state said in a statement that he has a “constitutional duty to ensure that only Americans vote in our elections.”
NBC News previously reported Regarding the concerns of voting rights advocates and lawyers about measures aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting – It is illegal and rare — mainly affects naturalized Americans.
In an Aug. 13 statement, Allen’s office said he acknowledged it was “possible” that some of the 3,500 have since obtained citizenship and are now eligible to vote.
The DOJ said Friday that it has discovered that some of the 3,521 people identified as having non-citizen identification numbers in Alabama have since become citizens, giving them the right to vote in elections.
Allen he said NBC News said in August that affected voters could take steps to address the issue on polling day.
“This update can be done by filling out a form or online. This step can be implemented even at the polling station on election day,” he said in his statement at the time.
Noncitizen identification numbers are issued by U.S. Customs and Immigration Services to immigrants to track their immigration documents, employment eligibility, and visa applications, among other things. Permanent residents who later become citizens will have a stateless ID number at some point.
The DOJ filing comes as Alabama heads into the general election this month. start sending Postal bulletins on September 11.