Civil rights orgs threaten legal action to halt purge of voter rolls

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A host of civil rights organizations signed onto a letter Monday sent to Secretary of State Wes Allen demanding he cease his plan to purge the voter rolls of more than 3,000 voters that at one point were assigned noncitizen IDs.

The organizations say his plan violates the National Voter Registration Act and could take rights away from eligible voters.

“The program you announced on August 13, 2024, plainly violates the NVRA,” the coalition wrote in its letter. “Alabama’s untimely systematic voter purge targeting naturalized citizens is directly analogous to that expressly rejected by the Eleventh Circuit.”

Allen announced last week that he would be ordering boards of registrars in all 67 counties across the state to remove from the voter rolls 3,251 citizens identified as having been issued noncitizen IDs at some point in the past. Allen admitted in the announcement that some of these individuals could have become naturalized since being issued noncitizen IDs, and said there would be a process available to them to register to vote again.

A long list of organizations signed onto the letter telling Allen to expect legal action if he does not reverse course: the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, the ALCU of Alabama, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Campaign Legal Center, the NAACP Alabama State Conference, the League of Women Voters of Alabama, Alabama Values Progress, Fair Elections Center, Legal Defense Fund and United Women of Color.

They say the plan violates the NVRA in numerous ways, including purging any voters within 90 days of a federal election.

“Section 8(c)(2)(A) of the NVRA (the “90-Day Provision”) requires that states complete ‘any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters’ ‘not later than 90 days prior to the date of a . . . general election for Federal office,” the coalition wrote. “Alabama may not take any steps to implement any program to systematically remove voters within this 90-day ‘quiet period.’ You announced your purge program on August 13, 2024—only 84 days before in-person voting on November 5, even fewer before the start of absentee voting, and undoubtedly within the ‘quiet period.'”

The coalition also argues that Alabama’s list maintenance procedures must be uniform and nondiscriminatory and must ensure that any eligible applicant remains registered to vote. 

The groups are making three demands of Allen:

• Immediately cease the program; 

• Issue a public statement that no person shall be removed from Alabama’s voter rolls pursuant to the program and that no person shall be removed from Alabama’s voter rolls based on the fact of having previously been issued an identification number as a noncitizen by the Department of Homeland Security; and 

• Provide notice to any and all individuals contacted or noticed pursuant to the program that they remain registered to vote in Alabama elections, including the November 2024 election, and that no further action on their part is needed. 

They are also asking for a number of public records related to the purging program.

• Individualized voter information for each of the following voters and voter registration applicants:
  • a) All 3,251 registered voters (Allen’s) office identified as potential noncitizens; 
  • b) All voters canceled, purged, or otherwise removed from the list of eligible voters pursuant to the program; and 
  • c) All voter registration applicants denied registration pursuant to the Program; 
• Any and all lists from other agencies used for comparison to create the list of 3,251 registered voters (Allen’s) office identified as potential noncitizens;
• Any and all specific instructions provided to County Boards of Registrars regarding implementation of the Program; 

• Any and all communications with the Alabama Attorney General regarding the 3,251 registered voters your office identified as potential noncitizens; 

• All documents relating to any notice provided to the 3,251 registered voters your office identified as potential noncitizens; 

• All documents supporting your contention that the registered voters or voters referred to in the August 13, 2024 press release were potentially noncitizens, including the source(s) of information for determining these registered voters purportedly possess noncitizen identification numbers; 

• All documents regarding the development, implementation, or announcement of the Program,12 including drafts of such documents; 

• All documents regarding the “process” initiated by the Secretary of State’s office to allow naturalized citizens to update their information; 

• All documents regarding any steps taken by the Secretary of State’s office to determine prior to your announcement whether any of the 3,251 registered voters identified by your office as potential noncitizens are, in fact, naturalized citizens; 

• All advisory or guidance documents, whether formal or informal, provided to county Boards of Registrars, Probate Judges, and/or other county election administrators regarding the implementation of this “strategic effort[],” including those provided after the release of the press release; 

• All documents relating to the removal of any of the 3,251 registered voters identified as potential noncitizens from the rolls to date; 

• All documents relating to the removal of any registered voter (whether or not among the 3,251 identified by your office) pursuant to the Program; 

• All communications regarding the development, implementation, or announcement of the Program, including but not limited to: 

  • internal communications of the Secretary of State’s office;

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and other State agencies, including but not limited to the office of the Governor, the office of the Attorney General, and the Alabama Department of Public Safety; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and any legislative branch officials or employees; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and any federal officeholder or agency; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and any county officials, including but not limited to Boards of Registrars, Probate Judges, and other county election administrators; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and any outside organizations, consultants, experts, or advisers; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and the media; 

  • communications between the Secretary of State’s office and members of the public; and 

  • any other communications related to this announcement