A Montgomery Circuit Court judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against Gov. Kay Ivey, Secretary of State John Merrill and several Montgomery County election officials that asked the court to expand Alabama’s absentee voting and relax other voting measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Montgomery Circuit Judge J.R. Gains in his order dismissing the suit wrote that the court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the plaintiff’s complaint because “Plaintiffs present a non-justiciable political question, Plaintiffs lack standing to sue Defendants, and the claims against Defendants are barred by sovereign immunity.”
The League of Women Voters’ lawsuit asked Gains to order Ivey and Merrill to exercise emergency powers to waive the notary or witness requirement, the requirement to supply a copy of a photo ID and to extend no-excuse absentee voting into the fall.
“COVID 19 is a very real threat, not only to voters’ physical health but also to the health of Alabama’s electoral process. We are profoundly disappointed by the judge’s decision, which allows elections to proceed in their current state,” said League President Barbara Caddell in a statement Friday.
“The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization whose mission is to empower voters and defend democracy. This case was filed to do just that. It was filed in the Alabama court system based on the Alabama Constitution and the Alabama Emergency Management Act which protect the right to vote in times of ‘tumult’ and give the Governor and the Secretary of State emergency power to protect citizens during emergencies. This pandemic certainly qualifies as ‘tumult’ requiring additional emergency assistance,” Caddell continued.
Caddell said that since the judge ruled he didn’t have the authority to require Ivey and Merrill to use their emergency powers, the league is appealing to Ivey for help, and detailed eight requests:
- Suspend the requirement that a copy of the voter’s photo ID be included with the voter’s application for an absentee ballot
- Suspend the requirement that the absentee ballot be notarized or signed by two witnesses;
- Provide adequate personal protective equipment for clerks and poll workers and disinfecting polling equipment;
- Require in-person voters to wear masks and maintain social distancing;
- Authorize local election officials to provide early voting at least fourteen days before each election day;
- Authorize local election officials to provide drive-through or curbside voting where practicable, to establish vote centers and relax restrictions on wrong-precinct voting;
- Provide local election officials the financial resources to implement these emergency measures; and
- Adequately notify all Alabama voters of these emergency measures. This includes either notifying voters that no box need be checked to vote absentee or modifying the absentee application and ballot forms to inform voters explicitly which boxes to check.
“In the past, Governor Ivey has demonstrated her concern for Alabamians in a variety of ways, and we encourage her to address our concerns for election safety by using her emergency power to order such common-sense voter protections,” the league said in their statement.
