Alabama says law cannot block people with certain felony convictions from voting in 2024 election

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama says a new state law expanding the list of felonies that cause a person to lose their right to vote won’t be enforced until after the November election and asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the effective date.

The Alabama attorney general office wrote in a Friday court filing that the new law, which has a Oct. 1 effective date, cannot be used to block people from voting in the upcoming election, because the Alabama Constitution prohibits new election laws from taking effect within six months of the general election.

“The Plaintiffs ask the court to order that a new law may not be enforced until after the November 5, 2024 General Election. But there is no need for such an order, because the law in question will not be enforced until after the election,” lawyers for the state wrote in the filing responding to the lawsuit.

The Campaign Legal Center had filed the lawsuit last month in Montgomery Circuit Court seeking to clarify that the new law cannot block people from voting in the November election. The center argued that there had been a lack of guidance from the state. Without clarity, they argued, it is setting up a confusing situation for voters and registrars to figure out who can and cannot vote in November.

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