WIAT Birmingham
Thu, October 17, 2024 at 7:04 PM CDT
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice is encouraging some voters to check their registration status.
The coalition sued Secretary of State Wes Allen after he carried out a program to remove ineligible voters from state voter rolls, which one judge said was done too close to the election.
“I’m a legitimate U.S. citizen,” said Roald Hazelhoff. “All I’m asking for is the most humble of responsibilities. And that’s to vote.”
Hazelhoff became a U.S. citizen two years ago, but he received a letter in the mail stating he needed to re-register to vote and prove he was indeed a U.S. citizen. If not, Hazelhoff would be taken off the voter rolls.
“I’ve been bilingual all my life. I’ve got people that are friends who can help me,” said Hazelhoff.
But how about some of those other three thousand plus people?”
An injunction issued by Judge Anna M. Manasco states that those over 3,200 voters were unlawfully put on a path to removal from state voter rolls– this being within ninety days of an election.
“So, it was really important that this injunction happened as soon as possible,” said Allison Hamilton, executive director for the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. “And we’re really happy that there’s just, like, three days that the Secretary of State has to reinstate all these voters so that they can definitely vote in the election.”
The coalition is knocking door to door, encouraging Alabamians to vote and check their registration status. But State Rep. Ron Bolton (R-Northport) said voter integrity should be a focus in the state.
“Well, really, I just consider that to be a common function in the purview of the Secretary of State’s office. I feel like Secretary Allen is doing a phenomenal job keeping everything up to date,” said Bolton.
Going into any election, he said it’s important to have a secure system in place.
“And I like to make sure that all this data is correct going into the upcoming election,” said Bolton. “That way, you don’t have to deal with a lot of investigations afterwards.”
In a statement, Secretary Allen said he will comply with the order of the federal court. He also stated that he has a constitutional duty to ensure that only eligible American citizens are voting in our elections.