A federal judge has ruled that Alabama's secretary of state must suspend a program that flagged thousands of registered voters as noncitizens until after the November election.
Judge Anna M. Manasco, appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2020, said Tuesday that Alabama should stop designating these voters as “inactive” with the election just three weeks away. AL.com reported that the ruling was that reported.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Secretary of State Wes Allen (Republican) announced on August 13 that he would begin “the process of removing noncitizens who are registered to vote.” press release In September, he announced that he would file a lawsuit against the government.
There were 3,251 registered voters, according to Allen's office. identified As assigned a “Non-National Identification Number” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“I have made it clear that I will not tolerate non-citizens participating in elections,” Allen said. “I went so far as to testify before a U.S. Senate committee on the importance of this issue. I've looked into the file.”
Mr. Allen's office sent notices to individuals it identified as noncitizens, warning them that their registration status would be marked as inactive until confirmation of their eligibility to vote could be made.
The Justice Department's survey of voters who displayed the flag found that both native-born and naturalized Americans received such letters, the department said.
Of the 3,251 people who received the warning, “more than 2,074 were subsequently deemed eligible to vote, and both sides reached an agreement in court,” AL.com reported.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said Allen's efforts violate the National Voter Registration Act's “clear and unequivocal restrictions on organized list maintenance within 90 days of an election.” He argued that the quiet period clause has the following powers: It is to prevent voters from being removed from the rolls as a result of last-minute, error-prone efforts. ”
Several civil rights groups also sued the state, with attorney Kathryn Huddleston saying the program “created confusion and uncertainty in the 2024 election.”
Judge Manasco agreed that the change was unfair and called on the Secretary of State to stop labeling voters so close to an election as “inactive.”
“As part of this program, everyone was reported to Alabama's highest law enforcement agency for criminal investigation,” she said, adding, “To my knowledge, nothing has been done to reverse it.” added.
Manasco supported arguments by the Justice Department and civil rights groups that Allen's flag-waving program is illegal if enacted within 90 days of an election, but extended the injunction beyond Nov. 5. It refused to rule on claims that the program was discriminatory or intentional. Deliberately disenfranchising voters.
The justices noted that the state had taken corrective steps to restore active voter status to some people considered legal citizens, saying, “These efforts highlight the importance of the 90-day deadline. “There is,” he said. This also shows me that viable and achievable relief is not out of reach. ”
