WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Askume) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it has filed a lawsuit against an Alabama program to remove non-citizens from voter rolls, alleging the program violated federal law because the state also enforced the law.
In mid-August, less than three months before the November 5 election, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced a “process to eliminate non-citizens registered to vote in Alabama,” citing more than 3,200 people who are already registered to vote and are not U.S. citizens.
“The silent period provisions of federal law exist to prevent eligible voters from being removed from the rolls in last-minute, error-prone efforts to vote,” the Justice Department said in a statement announcing the lawsuit Friday.
Quiet period provisions require states to complete a systematic plan to remove the names of ineligible voters from their voter registration rolls 90 days before a federal election.
The Justice Department said its review found that both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens received letters stating their voter records had been deactivated and they had been removed from Alabama’s statewide voter registration rolls.
Allen told the media in response to the lawsuit, “I was elected Secretary of State by the people of Alabama and it is my constitutional duty to make sure that only American citizens vote in our elections.”
The November 5 elections include elections for the president, US Senate and House of Representatives.
Republican former President Trump will face Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election, with polls showing a close race for the White House.
