By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Monday, Oct 5, 2015 Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D) released a letter that she sent to Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the closing of 31 driver’s license offices in Alabama. Rep. Sewell claimed that the decision will disproportionately impact residents of Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.
Representative Sewell said in a statement, “My office sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling for a full, and thorough investigation into the decision to close 31 driver’s license offices across Alabama. This ill-conceived decision left 8 out of the 14 counties in my district – which is the only majority minority district in the state – without a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue an Alabama driver’s license.”
The Alabama Congresswoman said, “The real issue here is about access. Closing these license offices will severely limit access to the most popular form of photo identification used in voting – a state issued driver’s license. It is disappointing, and unconscionable that Alabama would heighten its requirements to vote without also increasing the available options to meet these requirements. Closing 31 driver’s license offices across the state only heightens the disparities in voting between low-income and higher-income communities, and would disproportionately impact the residents of the 7th Congressional District. These closures will potentially disenfranchise Alabama’s poor, elderly, disabled and black communities.”
Rep. Sewell said, “My constituents are the least able, and least likely to have access to transportation – either public or private – and thus travel across county lines for a driver’s license. I am particularly appalled by this decision in light of the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches and the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Our nation should be moving forward in terms of expanding access to the vote. It’s utterly disappointing that my home state – the very state that launched the movement towards equality – is the same state that has become fertile ground for its demise.”
Rep. Sewell concluded, “The renewed assault on our sacred, constitutionally protected to vote must be stopped. I look forward to working with Attorney General Lynch to stop this latest assault on our voting rights.”
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not lay off the driver’s license examiners. Instead they simply stopped going to the 31 offices each week.
State Representative David Standridge (R from Hayden) the Chairman of the Alabama House Rural Caucus released his own statement regarding the announcement: “I and my colleagues in the Rural Caucus are deeply disappointed in the administration’s latest announcement, that many rural diver license offices will be closed in the coming days. This decision is directly opposed to the clear language of the budget passed by the legislature, and signed into law by the governor, which explicitly prevents the closure of such offices. Though we no doubt have separation of powers in our form of government, the legislature clearly has the ability to appropriate funds and make determinations about how those funds are spent. Accordingly, the governor’s most recent decision is a tough pill to swallow for legislators who represent rural and underserved areas in our state.”
Chairman Standridge said, “Further, closing these offices will do little to save money for the state, as many of the employees in the offices slated to be closed will simply be reassigned, rather than let go. In other words, closing these satellite driver license offices will simply move personnel around rather than reduce operating costs. Thus, one has to wonder if this move, though potentially well-intentioned, is aimed at hurting rural Alabama and our small and underserved communities. I and my colleagues in the Rural Caucus urge the governor and the ALEA to reconsider their decision to cut vital services for rural Alabama.”
Congresswoman Terri Sewell represents Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District.
