MONTGOMERY, Alabama — A voting rights group says a new Alabama law that expanded the list of crimes that can lead to someone losing their right to vote is “out of line” with what’s happening in much of the country. voting rights for ex-convicts.
The Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit in Montgomery Circuit Court on Wednesday seeking clarification that the new law cannot prevent people from voting in the November election. The lawsuit argued that House Bill 100, which takes effect Oct. 1, cannot be used in the upcoming election because the Alabama Constitution prohibits new election laws from taking effect within six months of the general election. Without clarity, they argued, it creates confusion for voters and registrars about who, exactly, will and will not be eligible to vote in November.
The new law adds that a conviction for attempted, solicitation or conspiracy to commit one of more than 40 existing crimes of moral turpitude would also be considered a disqualifying offense. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two men convicted of crimes years ago who could lose their right to vote under the expanded list.
The office of Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen declined to answer questions about the effective date, citing the ongoing litigation. The head of the Legislative Services Agency, which advises lawmakers and helps draft legislation, told The Associated Press that they had advised it “would not affect who would be able to vote in November” because of the constitutional requirement, but it would affect future elections.
Blair Bowie, director of the Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote Program, said in a statement about the lawsuit that Alabama is “seriously out of step with the national momentum on voting rights.”
“This new law sets Alabama even further back by disenfranchising Alabamians who have been able to vote legally for years and creating chaos and confusion for voters and election administrators,” Bowie said. “Every American should be able to exercise their right to vote, regardless of whether they have a felony record.”
Allen’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit or the impact of the new law.
States have taken different paths when it comes to voting rights for former inmates. The Campaign Legal Center said most states allow people with felony convictions to vote after they are released from prison and return to their communities.
The ban on voting for people with felony convictions in Alabama first dates back to the Jim Crow era of Alabama’s 1901 constitution, which was designed to keep black people and poor white people from voting. The constitution said people convicted of crimes of “moral turpitude” would lose their right to vote, but did not define those crimes. After years of debate and litigation, Alabama lawmakers in 2017 approved al list of more than 40 crimes, including murder, robbery, assault, theft and drug trafficking, which disqualify a person from voting.
Alabama lawmakers added an amendment to the bill this spring aimed at imposing stiffer penalties for crimes against election workers and poll workers, expanding the list of disqualifying offenses. The main goal of HB100, by Democratic Rep. Adline C. Clarke of Mobile, was to protect poll workers.
Before the bill passed, an amendment from a Republican lawmaker added six felonies to the list of offenses, including domestic violence, elder abuse, stalking and coercing membership in a street gang. It also said that a conviction for attempting, conspiring or soliciting to commit one of the existing crimes of moral turpitude would also qualify as a crime of moral turpitude. The Campaign Center said that effectively added more than 100 new offenses to the list of offenses that result in a person’s disenfranchisement.
Allen praised the provision in a statement to al.com in May.
“HB100 will serve as a strong deterrent to those considering committing crimes in Alabama,” Allen told the news outlet. “I am not disqualifying anyone from voting on HB100. It is the criminals who disqualify themselves when they break the law and cause chaos in our communities.”
Alabama allows many people convicted of disqualifying crimes to file a request to restore their voting rights if they have served their sentence, parole, and probation and paid all fines and restitution ordered by the court. Some convictions, such as murder, do not allow a person to regain their right to vote.