In another controversy over voting rights given to illegal immigrants in the USA, the Department of Justice has sued the State of Alabama and its top election official for removing non-citizens from voter list. Notably, Alabama had removed people having noncitizen identification numbers from its electoral rolls ahead of the presidential elections.
Noncitizen Identification Numbers are a tax-processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that foreigners—including undocumented immigrants—pay taxes. Along with paying taxes, noncitizen identification numbers can provide legal migrants with securing a driver’s license and providing proof of residency.
3251 individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama and have been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security were identified after Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen was sworn into office in January. These people were then removed from the voter list because they were issued noncitizen certificates.
Wes Allen on 13 August announced that more than 3,500 people who were registered to vote had been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security. But it was not revealed when the IDs were issued.
However, as per Department of Justice, this violated federal election laws as voter lists can’t be altered within 90 days of the voting. The DoJ on Friday said that the removal of voters from the toll took place 84 days before the 5th November election and therefore violated the National Voter Registration Act. Therefore, the DOJ sued the state of Alabama and its Secretary of State Wes Allen.
The DOJ also alleged that the removal of voter registration also impacted natural-born citizens who were incorrectly issued noncitizen certificates.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He added, “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law. Officials across the country should take heed of the National Voter Registration Act’s clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election. The Quiet Period Provision of federal law exists to prevent eligible voters from being removed from the rolls as a result of last-minute, error-prone efforts. The Justice Department will continue to use all the tools it has available to ensure that the voting rights of every eligible voter are protected.”
While the office of the Alabama Secretary of State has not commented on the DoJ suing them over the issue, the secretary of state said in a statement that it’s his “Constitutional duty to ensure that only Americans vote in our elections.”
Wes Allen had said earlier, “I have been clear that I will not tolerate the participation of noncitizens in our elections. have even gone so far as to testify before a United States Senate Committee regarding the importance of this issue. We have examined the current voter file in an attempt to identify anyone who appears on that list that has been issued a noncitizen identification number.”
