Alabama Naturalized Citizen Voter Purge Challenge

Lawsuit filed by four pro-voting organizations and three naturalized citizens against Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R), Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) and local election officials in four counties challenging the state’s voter purge program targeting “noncitizen” voting. Under this voter purge program, Alabama election officials have removed registered voters who have previously had a noncitizen identification number. The plaintiffs allege that this led election officials to remove many naturalized citizens, who previously had noncitizen identification numbers before gaining their citizenship, from the state’s voter rolls.  

The plaintiffs argue that this purge violates several provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Voting Rights Act (VRA), which protect voters from discriminatory treatment, unfair removal from the voter rolls and voter intimidation. They argue the state also violated the NVRA’s 90-day “quiet period,” which prohibits removing registered voters from rolls within 90 days of an election. Additionally, they argue this violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and unfairly burdens the right to vote under the U.S. Constitution. They ask the court to block the state’s voter purge program, withdraw any notices of removal they’ve already sent to voters and reinstate the registration of any voters unfairly removed from the rolls.

STATUS: The plaintiffs filed their complaint on Sept. 13, 2024. The defendants have not responded yet.

Last updated: September 16, 2024 12:43 pm EST