Justice Department sues Alabama for removing thousands of non-citizens from voter rolls

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that it filed a lawsuit against Alabama for purging thousands of non-citizens who were registered on the voter rolls. The DOJ alleges that too many people were removed too close to the election.

"The Justice Department announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the State of Alabama and the Alabama Secretary of State to challenge a systematic State program aimed at removing voters from its election rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)," the DOJ wrote in a release posted on its official website.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen explained that the removal was part of a strategic effort to ensure that the state has the cleanest and most accurate voter registration in the country.

"As part of this effort, Secretary Allen has identified 3,251 individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama who have been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary announced today that he is instructing the Boards of Registrars in all 67 counties to immediately inactivate and initiate steps necessary to remove all individuals who are not United States Citizens.” the secretary's office explained in a statement issued in August when he announced the decision.

Despite the Justice Department's claim that this would violate Americans' right to vote, the office had already explained in August that it is possible that some of the people who were issued non-citizen identification numbers have since become citizens and, therefore, eligible to vote. In that case, the secretary created a verification process for these individuals to be eligible to vote.

"The process initiated by the Secretary of State’s Office will allow those naturalized citizens to update their information on a State of Alabama Voter Registration Form and, once verified, vote in the state’s elections,” the office said.

"Allen has also provided the list of registered voters identified as having been issued a noncitizen identification number to the Office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall for further investigation and possible criminal prosecution," it added.