Court rulings in three different states – Nebraska, Alabama and Georgia – have overturned or blocked controversial measures that would have limited the ability to vote in the upcoming United States election.
All three decisions come as the November 5 general elections approach in just a few weeks. A range of local, state and national offices will be on ballots across the country, including the presidential race.
The decisions also highlight the myriad battles over voting access in America.
In Alabama, a judge took action against an apparent effort to purge voter rolls. In Nebraska, another judge upheld the right to vote for people who have completed their felony sentences. And in Georgia, a court declared new rules unconstitutional, allowing the election results to be more easily contested.
Some of the efforts canceled Wednesday are the result of persistent election misinformation.
The current Republican candidate for president, former President Donald Trump, has long claimed – falsely – that the US elections were marred by fraud, casting doubt on the accuracy of the results.
Trump has used this argument to question his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential race. Some Republican officials have responded by calling for restrictive measures, saying they are necessary to prevent election fraud.
However, voting rights groups on Wednesday hailed the court ruling as a victory for US constitutional rights.
“In a victory for Alabama voters, a federal court has halted Alabama’s illegal voter purge program targeting naturalized citizens,” the Campaign Legal Center wrote on social media platform X.
The group was among those challenging the voter-list purge in the southern state.
“This is a huge win for our customers,” it reads.
alabama
In the right-leaning southern state of Alabama, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco issued a preliminary injunction in August against a voter purge program launched by Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen.
Allen said the purpose of the program was to remove “non-citizens” from voter rolls in Alabama. However, studies have shown that claims of noncitizen voting have been grossly exaggerated.
The US Justice Department and voting rights groups also argued that Allen’s program – which deactivated some voters – could disenfranchise citizens who should be able to legally vote.
Any voters who are deactivated will need to provide additional documentation to be able to vote on Nov. 5.
But opponents of the measure successfully argued that Allen’s move violated federal law prohibiting the systematic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election.
Additionally, Secretary of State Chief of Staff Clay Helms also testified that of the 3,251 people deemed “inactive”, 2,000 were actually legally registered citizens.
By September, more than 900 people had already taken steps to restore their voter status.
nebraska
In a separate ruling in mid-western Nebraska, the state’s top court upheld a law allowing felons who have completed their sentences to vote.
In doing so, the court rejected the argument of Nebraska’s Republican Secretary of State Robert Evenen that the law passed in April violated the state Constitution.
The court ordered them to immediately implement the law. Avnen said his office would comply with the ruling and state election officials have begun allowing citizens convicted of felonies to register to vote.
Jonathan Topaz, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision means potentially thousands more citizens will be able to vote.
“We are grateful that the Nebraska Supreme Court invalidated this lawless attempt to reinstate permanent felony convictions,” Topaz said in a statement.
The April law is part of a trend across the US to expand voting access for people convicted of felonies. Over the past quarter-century, an estimated 26 states have enacted similar measures to restore some degree of voting access for people with felony records.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 10 states indefinitely suspend voting rights for people with felony convictions, either mandating a pardon to restore voting access or the formerly incarcerated. People are required to meet some other restrictive standard.
Georgia
In a third ruling on Wednesday, a Georgia judge ruled that seven new election rules passed by the Republican-dominated state elections board were “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”
One of the rules required poll workers to count ballots by hand on Election Day. Voting rights groups had said the requirement would slow the counting process and increase the chance of mistakes.
Other rules related to how local officials certify election results. The wording of the rules raised concerns that officials could refuse to certify their counties’ vote counts if they claim they are concerned about fraud. The judge ruled that they were required to certify the results.
Another rule would require anyone casting an absentee ballot to provide a signature and photo ID in person.
Speaking to The Associated Press, former state Representative Scott Turner, a Republican who led the challenge to the new measures, called the decision “a complete and utter victory for the Constitution of the United States.”
“This is not about the party. “This is about doing what is constitutional and re-establishing the separation of powers, and that is something every conservative in this country should be concerned about and support,” he said.
