Justice Department sues Alabama for purging voters from rolls too close to election

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, alleging a state program violated federal law by removing voters from its election rolls too close to this fall’s general election.

While states can remove a person’s name from their lists of registered voters if, for example, the person asks to be taken off, has died or, in many places, been convicted of certain crimes, the National Voter Registration Act sets what’s known as a “quiet period” before federal elections for most states.

Alabama and other states covered by the federal law are not allowed to systematically remove names fewer than 90 days before a federal election.

On Aug. 13, 84 days before this fall’s Election Day, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, announced an effort to “remove noncitizens registered to vote” in the state. According to a press release, Allen identified and instructed county election officials to remove from their voter rolls 3,251 registered Alabama voters who had been “issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security.”

Allen also acknowledged in the press release that “some of the individuals who were issued noncitizen identification numbers have, since receiving them, become naturalized citizens and are, therefore, eligible to vote.” Those U.S. citizens would be able to update their voter registration information, the statement added.

But in a statement, the Justice Department characterized this process as a “systematic voter removal program” that has ensnared U.S. citizens, both those born in the United States and those who were naturalized, and put them on a path to no longer appearing on Alabama’s voter registration list.

In August, NPR