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The U.S. Department of Justice and voting rights groups have dropped a lawsuit that halted a program implemented by Secretary of State Wes Allen to purge potential noncitizens from the rolls.
The DOJ said in a release that it is no longer interested in combatting the state’s attempts to remove noncitizens from the rolls.
“States are required to maintain accurate voting rolls and remove ineligible voters,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This Administration supports the efforts of states like Alabama that engage in voting security measures that ensure only citizens are voting in our elections. We are dismissing this case from the prior Administration to permit Alabama the time and space to develop a legal, efficient, and effective process to remove noncitizens from their voting roll and secure the vote for their citizens in upcoming elections.”
U.S. District Court Judge Anna Manasco blocked the program in October, ruling that Allen has sought to implement the program to close to Election Day in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. The judge also highlighted potential errors in the list brought forward by plaintiffs, although those claims were never directly considered in the case.
Voting rights groups Friday painted the case as a victory, with no signs of Allen reintroducing the program.
“Every American should be able to make their voice heard, and no one should be afraid to vote because a state is arbitrarily challenging their registration status. We celebrate the end to this unlawful purge program that unjustly targeted voters of color and naturalized voters,” said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “Voters in Alabama can rest easy for now knowing their freedom to vote is intact but should the state attempt to illegally silence voters, they can count on seeing Campaign Legal Center and our partners again in court.”
Allen, however, touted the groups withdrawing as a victory for the state.
“I am incredibly pleased to announce that President Trump’s USDOJ has filed to dismiss this case and that the liberal organizations involved have followed suit,” Allen said.
The program sought to remove anybody from the voters rolls who had ever been issued a noncitizen identification number, despite the possibility for some of those individuals to have become naturalized and eligible to vote.
The voting rights groups argued that up to 60 percent of the individuals targeted were in error.
