MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Today, a coalition of civil rights, voting rights, and disability rights organizations filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in Alabama NAACP et al. v. Marshall et al. In the motion, the plaintiffs ask the Court to suspend Alabama’s criminalization of assisting with absentee ballot applications, a crime that currently can lead to up to 20 years in prison.
If timely granted, the requested injunction would prevent the state from implementing the recently enacted Senate Bill 1 (SB1) before the October 29, 2024 deadline for applying for an absentee ballot by mail for the November 2024 general election. The preliminary injunction ensures that SB1 will not be enforced while the plaintiffs seek a permanent injunction at the conclusion of the litigation.
With SB1, nonpartisan civil rights, voting rights, and disability rights organizations and their volunteers fear criminal penalties for engaging in routine voting assistance and other constitutionally protected activities. The law’s vague, overbroad, and undefined provisions chill the constitutional rights of individuals who provide critical assistance with the absentee ballot application process, particularly elderly, incarcerated, disabled, and low-literacy voters who rely on assistance to get the right to vote.
The lawsuit challenging SB1 was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by the League of Women Voters of Alabama (LWVAL), the Alabama State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Alabama NAACP), Greater Birmingham Ministries (GBM), and the Alabama Disability Assistance Program (ADAP). The plaintiffs are represented by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Alabama Disability Assistance Program (ADAP), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama (ACLU-AL).
“Voting barrier laws undermine fundamental principles of our democracy and must be blocked,” said Cathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters of Alabama. “SB 1 unfairly targets the individuals and organizations that voters with disabilities rely on to access the ballot. The League of Women Voters of Alabama urges the court to block this law so we can continue our work to make Alabamians’ voices heard this fall.”
“SB 1 is a clear attack on our fundamental rights and our democratic process,” said Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton. “Criminalizing individuals for simply fulfilling their civic duties destroys the essence of freedom and rights and deprives citizens of their fundamental rights. We are asking the Court to hear our voices and overturn SB 1.”
“Greater Birmingham Ministries is a nonpartisan, pro-democracy faith-based organization, but we oppose SB1 because it creates barriers for a more informed, supported and more engaged demographic of voters who must vote absentee, including many with disabilities, shift workers who don’t know their shifts well in advance, and even legally incarcerated and convicted people who have been convicted of crimes but still have the right to vote and feel like they have their full citizenship back,” said Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries. “GBM supports seniors who use walkers, the blind, amputees, people with other health issues, and all those who would truly suffer under SB1 if they lose their ability to fully participate in civil society.”
“SB 1 is an ill-conceived ‘solution’ in desperate search of a problem that doesn’t exist,” said ADAP senior litigation attorney William Van Der Pol. “All it accomplishes is creating more unnecessary barriers for disabled, elderly, infirm and other voters whose only way to express their opinion is by absentee ballot.”
“SB 1’s vague and undefined language has community groups and volunteers worried that their everyday voter participation activities could lead to felony penalties,” said Alison Molman, legal director for the ACLU of Alabama. “Through this preliminary injunction, we are asking the Court to not allow Alabama to implement these unnecessary, overbroad and unclear restrictions until this litigation is fully resolved.”
“SB1 prevents neighbors and caretakers from exercising one another’s right to vote,” said Jess Unger, senior voting rights counsel at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Not only does this measure undermine the very essence of community support and civic culture, it also disrupts a fundamental democratic process.”
“SB1 is an attack on Alabama voters and community organizations,” said Valencia Richardson, voting rights legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. “We should be celebrating, not punishing, civic-minded people who help make their voices heard. Instead, with a crucial election looming, Alabamians are facing the possibility of serious criminal penalties for ordinary civic activities. That’s why it’s so important that the Court blocks this vague anti-voter law while litigation is ongoing.”
“SB 1 has no place in our democracy,” said Anuja Thatte, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. “Criminalizing people who want to ensure our election system is accessible to other citizens is antithetical to a truly inclusive democracy that values the rights and contributions of its citizens. Today’s motion seeks to protect these rights as our litigation proceeds.”
A copy of the preliminary injunction petition can be found here.
Read about the lawsuit challenging SB1 here.
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