Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen and Attorney General Steve Marshall have been named in a lawsuit filed by advocacy groups regarding the voter purge program. This program is aimed at removing non-citizens who are registered to vote in Alabama.
According to the Policy Director of Fair Elections Center, one of the advocacy groups involved in the lawsuit, the program unfairly singles out naturalized citizens.
Kanter Cohen expressed that naturalized citizens find this kind of action intimidating, even though they possess the right to vote.
In August, Allen made an announcement that a total of 3,251 individuals who were previously issued non-citizen identification numbers will either have their voter registration status made inactive or flagged.
Allen has given clear instructions to the Board of Registrars in all 67 counties of Alabama to promptly eliminate any individuals who are not U.S. citizens from their rolls.
Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, clarified that Jefferson County was implicated in the lawsuit filed against the Secretary of State. He emphasized that the Secretary of State’s directives to the counties were focused on altering the voter’s status, not on removing any individuals from the voting rolls.
Cohen disputes the accuracy of that number, arguing that it gives very little time for those individuals to update their status before November 5.
Cohen explained that the process they are employing primarily focuses on naturalized citizens. They rely on data from an agency that individuals who were once assigned an immigration number have interacted with. However, it is important to note that agency records are frequently not up to date.
According to John Wahl, Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, ensuring that the votes of U.S. citizens count is a top priority, although he cannot provide insight into the Voter Purge Program.
According to Allen, there is a possibility that some of the 3,251 individuals who were considered at risk of voting may have already obtained their citizenship. In light of this, Wahl emphasized the significance of granting these citizens the chance to exercise their right to vote.
According to Wahl, it is crucial to ensure that every citizen is able to vote and that any issues in the voting process are addressed and corrected.
According to Allen, the Alabama Secretary of State’s office is committed to restoring voting eligibility to individuals who have obtained their citizenship before the November 5 election.
