Alabama thumbs nose at federal voter registration laws

Add Alabama to Florida as a scofflaw state when it comes to voter registration laws. The Justice Department is suing Florida over Gov. Rick Scott's attempt to purge voters from the rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. Via Think Progress, Alabama is about to be sued by a coalition of voting rights and civil rights groups because it is out of compliance with federal law by not providing voter registration materials as is required. The Act, more commonly known as the "motor voter" law, requires that states provide voter registration forms at any office providing public assistance.

In a letter sent to Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman and the commissioners of the Department of Human Resources and Alabama Medicaid Agency, the groups said an investigation and interviews found widespread failure to provide registration materials in DHR [Department of Human Resources] and Medicaid offices.

The New York-based civil rights group Demos and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Project Vote, both out of Washington, D.C., said in a letter dated Wednesday that they want the state to develop a plan to comply with federal voting laws.

The organizations said they will gladly meet with state officials and want to be apprised of the voting plans, but if a plan is not developed, they will sue after a 90-day waiting period.

The state denies that it's not complying with the law, but it's rather hard to explain the numbers the investigation found, if not through negligence on the state's part. According to the letter the groups sent to Chapman, they found that "the number of voter registration applications submitted at Alabama public assistance offices decreased by more than 75 percent from its peak in 1995-1996 to the most recent reporting period of 2009-2010." During the same period, applications for food stamps increased by 60 percent. So there's been a huge increase in applicants for social services, but suddenly three-quarters of them aren't interested in voting? Alabama might be being a bit disingenuous on that one.

It's the same old story: Keep the people who are most likely to vote Democratic out of the polls, by whatever means possible. As usual.