Federal judge orders Alabama to reverse program that purged more than 3,000 names from state voter rolls
CNN
A federal judge ordered Alabama’s Republican secretary of state on Wednesday to reverse a program that purged more than 3,000 names from the state’s voter rolls, agreeing with the Biden administration’s argument that the purge took place too close to the election.
A federal judge ordered Alabama’s Republican secretary of state on Wednesday to reverse a program that purged more than 3,000 names from the state’s voter rolls, agreeing with the Biden administration’s argument that the purge took place too close to the election. “For decades, federal law has given states a hard deadline to complete systematic purges of ineligible persons from voter rolls: no later than ninety days before a federal election. This year, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen blew the deadline when he announced a purge program to begin eighty-four days before the 2024 General Election,” US District Judge Anna Manasco wrote in a 5-page preliminary injunction. Manasco, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, added that Allen “admitted” that his purge program “included thousands of United States citizens (in addition to far fewer noncitizens, who are ineligible to vote),” and that the secretary of state referred all of the individuals to the state’s attorney general for criminal investigation. The ruling is a major victory for the US Justice Department and several voters in the state who sued Allen last month, alleging he unlawfully removed 3,251 names from the state’s registration lists. It comes as Republicans continue to make noncitizen voting a major issue ahead of the 2024 election, even though voting in US elections by noncitizens is illegal and exceedingly rare. Manasco said the injunction will expire after the 2024 election. CNN has reached out to Allen’s office for comment.
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