Voter Purge Lawsuit.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

SOUTHERN DIVISION
ALABAMA COALITION FOR

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE; LEAGUE
OF WOMEN VOTERS OF
ALABAMA; LEAGUE OF WOMEN
VOTERS OF ALABAMA
EDUCATION FUND; ALABAMA
STATE CONFERENCE OF THE
NAACP; ROALD HAZELHOFF;
JAMES STROOP; CARMEL Case No. ___________________
MICHELLE COE; and EMILY
JORTNER,
Plaintiffs,
v.
WES ALLEN, in his official capacity

as Alabama Secretary of State; STEVE
MARSHALL, in his official capacity
as Alabama Attorney General; and
JAN BENNETT, BARRY
STEPHENSON, CINDY WILLIS
THRASH, and SHEILA COX
BARBUCK, in their official capacities
as Chairs of Boards of Registrars of
Elmore, Jefferson, Lee, and Marshall
Counties;
Defendants.
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
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Plaintiffs Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice; League of Women Voters
of Alabama; League of Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund; Alabama State
Conference of the NAACP; Roald Hazelhoff; James Stroop; Carmel Michelle Coe;
and Emily Jortner bring this action against Wes Allen, in his official capacity as
Alabama Secretary of State; Steve Marshall, in his official capacity as Alabama
Attorney General; and the chairs of the Elmore, Jefferson, Lee, and Marshall County
Boards of Registrars, in their official capacities, and allege the following:
INTRODUCTION
1. The right to vote is fundamental and foundational to American
democracy. Every American citizen has the right to vote, regardless of where they
were born.
2. On August 13, 2024, only 84 days before the upcoming November
general election, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that he had
identified and would seek to purge 3,251 registered Alabama voters who had
previously been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of
Homeland Security (the Purge Program). Secretary Allen admitted the virtual
certainty that voters on this list (the Purge List) included naturalized citizens, who
are U.S. citizens and therefore eligible to vote. But, he nevertheless directed the
immediate inactivation of these voters’ registrations. Although Secretary Allen’s
subsequent statements have been ambiguous and contradictory, both Secretary
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Allen’s initial press release and the notice sent to voters on the Purge List instruct
that these voters must re-register and undergo verification (the Re-Registration
Process) before they may vote in 2024 or in future elections. He further referred
everyone on the Purge List to Attorney General Steve Marshall for criminal
investigation and potential prosecution. In announcing the Purge Program, Secretary
Allen promised to continue to conduct similar “reviews” of the voter rolls.
3. This lawsuit challenges Secretary Allen’s Purge Program, which by
design and in implementation targets and threatens the voting rights of eligible
Alabama voters who are naturalized citizens.
4. The Purge Program, designed by Secretary Allen and implemented by
Secretary Allen, Attorney General Marshall, and Alabama county Boards of
Registrars, undermines the fundamental right to vote. The Purge Program inactivates
and constructively removes thousands of Alabamians from the active voter rolls
shortly before the November 2024 general election and forces them to needlessly re-
register in order to vote and be registered to vote, based solely on Secretary Allen’s
belief that they were at one point issued a noncitizen identification number—even if
they have since become naturalized citizens and lawfully registered to vote.
5. The methodology of the Purge Program predictably sweeps in
naturalized citizens—as Secretary Allen has admitted. Every naturalized citizen was
once issued a noncitizen identification number, prior to becoming a citizen. That is
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because all naturalized citizens were once legal permanent residents, and all legal
permanent residents are issued noncitizen identification numbers. But no U.S.-born
citizens are issued noncitizen identification numbers at any point in their lives. Thus,
Secretary Allen created a Purge Program designed to target naturalized citizens for
removal from the voter rolls.
6. The Purge Program is therefore set up to target and disproportionately
burden naturalized citizens. By singling out anyone ever issued a noncitizen
identification number—a group that Secretary Allen recognized in announcing the
purge program includes naturalized citizens—the Purge Program is deeply flawed
and does not accurately identify noncitizens registered to vote, Secretary Allen’s
purported goal in creating the program. Instead, the Purge Program discriminates
against Alabamians based on their national origin.
7. What’s more, Secretary Allen included on the Purge List voters who
have never been issued noncitizen identification numbers, based on faulty
information that they had been. As a result, the Purge List includes and the Purge
Program has also removed from the active voter rolls some eligible voters who are
U.S.-born citizens, and has also required these voters to re-register.
8. In implementation, the Purge Program thus arbitrarily sweeps in both
targeted naturalized citizens and U.S.-born citizens not targeted by the program.
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9. Secretary Allen has characterized the Purge Program as moving voters
to “inactive” status, but in fact the Purge Program creates a process requiring voters
to re-register entirely in order to vote in the 2024 general election and be on
Alabama’s voter rolls, by submitting a new voter registration form and undergoing
verification. The notice letter sent by county Boards of Registrars at Secretary
Allen’s directive does not tell recipients that they may vote on Election Day, but
rather sends them an Alabama voter registration form—which prominently states
that a voter cannot register in the fourteen days preceding an election. This process
(the Re-Registration Process) is, functionally and legally, constructive removal from
the voter rolls, and is a different requirement and process than for voters on
Alabama’s ordinary inactive list.
10. The Purge Program also refers all voters on Secretary Allen’s Purge List
to Attorney General Marshall for criminal investigation and potential prosecution,
which is not a feature of Alabama’s ordinary inactive list.
11. Thus far, Secretary Allen has not produced any documents relating to
the Purge Program, including identifying the persons subject thereto, despite
Plaintiffs’ requests for that information. Thus, Plaintiffs have not been able to
determine conclusively who has been identified for removal, how the Purge List was
compiled, or what additional “reviews” he will perform to add names to the Purge
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List. What is clear is that Secretary Allen’s initial purge relies on erroneous data—it
includes U.S. citizens, including both naturalized citizens and U.S.-born citizens.
12. Secretary Allen implemented the Purge Program as part of a
nationwide, bad-faith effort falsely claiming that noncitizen voting is prevalent in
American elections. Indeed, in announcing the Purge Program, he made sure to tie
himself to that campaign by stating that he “will not tolerate the participation of
noncitizens in our elections” and “ha[d] even gone so far as to testify before a United
States Senate Committee regarding the importance of this issue.” Such testimony
and similar allegations have repeatedly failed to provide evidence supporting their
claims; instead, evidence overwhelmingly shows that noncitizen voting is
vanishingly rare in the United States and that voter purges aimed at alleged
noncitizens primarily prevent eligible naturalized citizens from casting ballots.
13. Plaintiffs are individual naturalized and U.S.-born citizens, and
nonprofit organizations whose missions are to help Alabamians register and vote and
to provide services to Alabama’s immigrant community and whose members include
eligible U.S. citizens whose registrations are at risk under the Purge Program. The
Purge Program harms the Individual Plaintiffs directly: Plaintiffs Hazelhoff and
Stroop have already received a purge letter, and Plaintiffs Coe and Jortner will likely
be targeted by the Purge Program because they have previously received a noncitizen
identification number. Injunction of the Purge Program is necessary to ensure all
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Individual Plaintiffs can vote in the November 2024 general election and future
elections and can be registered on the Alabama voter rolls, without unjustified and
unlawful burdens to their right to vote.
14. The Purge Program harms Organizational Plaintiffs Alabama Coalition
for Immigrant Justice, League of Women Voters of Alabama, League of Women
Voters of Alabama Education Fund, and Alabama State Conference of the NAACP
directly because, instead of registering additional new voters and providing
programs for Alabama’s immigrant community, they will spend time and money
helping the already-registered voters on the Purge List defend their registrations and
right to vote as new Americans, identifying registered voters who have been purged
or likely will be, and educating the public about ensuring that they remain registered.
It further harms Organizational Plaintiffs for the same reason that it harms Individual
Plaintiffs: all Organizational Plaintiffs have members who are naturalized citizens.
Injunction of the Purge Program is necessary to end these harms to Organizational
Plaintiffs.
15. Secretary Allen’s Purge Program violates the First and Fourteenth
Amendments of the United States Constitution, the National Voter Registration Act
(NVRA), and the Voting Rights Act. Plaintiffs therefore respectfully request that the
Court declare the Purge Program unlawful, enjoin Defendants from implementing
the Purge Program, and afford Plaintiffs all other just and proper relief.
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JURISDICTION AND VENUE
16. This Court has jurisdiction to hear this case under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331,
1343(a)(3) and (4), and 1357 because the claims in this action arise under the
Constitution and laws of the United States, as well as under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and
1988, 52 U.S.C. § 10308(d), and 52 U.S.C. § 20510. This Court has jurisdiction to
grant declaratory and injunctive relief and all other forms of relief available under
federal law, including 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202, 52 U.S.C. § 10310(e), and 52
U.S.C. § 10302(c).
17. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendants, who are all
elected or appointed officials and citizens of Alabama.
18. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because the
Defendants engage in their official duties in this District, because a substantial part
of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims occurred in this District, and
because at least one Defendant resides in this District and all Defendants are
Alabama residents.
PARTIES
Plaintiffs
19. Plaintiffs League of Women Voters of Alabama and League of
Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund (collectively LWVAL or the
League), formed under Section 501(c)(4) and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
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Revenue Code, respectively, are nonpartisan, nonprofit, membership organizations
that seek to encourage informed and active participation in government, work to
increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influence public policy
through education and advocacy. LWVAL is a state chapter of the League of Women
Voters, which was founded in 1920 as an outgrowth of the struggle to win voting
rights for women, has more than 500,000 members and supporters, and is organized
in more than 750 communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. LWVAL
has approximately 515 members across the state of Alabama. Some of LWVAL’s
members are naturalized citizens.
20. LWVAL is comprised of dues-paying members who volunteer in
Alabama communities to provide voter services. LWVAL has no paid employees or
staff involved with the operation of the League. LWVAL provides regular training
to its members and to its nonpartisan partners to assist Alabamians, including those
who are naturalized citizens, in getting registered, voting, and confirming their
registration status. LWVAL does this work as a part of its mission to protect the right
to vote for Alabama voters and considers its work registering voters, encouraging
them to vote, and confirming their registration to be an expression of those core
values. LWVAL uses voter registration assistance as a part of a larger dialogue about
a citizen’s voter registration, voting plan, and the importance of voter turnout: the
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goal is to ensure all eligible Alabama voters are registered to vote, have a plan to
vote, and can and do actually vote.
21. The Purge Program has harmed and will continue to harm the League
and its members in various ways. First, the League has diverted and will continue to
divert resources to counteract the harms created by the Purge Program. For instance,
the League has already spent at least $1,000, and will spend more money, to create
and distribute a public service announcement (PSA) throughout the state reminding
voters of their right to vote and instructing them to check that their registration is
valid before Election Day. The League created and distributed the PSA in direct
response to the Purge Program, to ensure that all Alabama voters—including voters
that the League has registered and voters who are League members—are registered
and are able to vote on Election Day, in furtherance of the League’s goals of
registering eligible voters and ensuring all eligible voters can vote. That PSA was
necessary because the Purge Program has deregistered thousands of Alabamians,
including—as Secretary Allen has admitted—Alabamians eligible to vote, and has
unquestionably intimidated many more naturalized Alabamians who are now less
likely to vote for fear of criminal investigation and prosecution. Therefore, the Purge
Program will decrease the number of registered voters and decrease voter turnout,
directly harming the League’s mission of increasing the number of registered voters
and increasing voter turnout. The PSA was necessary to ameliorate those harms.
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22. Separately, the League has devoted and will devote resources and
members’ time to counteract the effects of the Purge Program, such as by helping
members and registered voters determine whether they remain eligible and by
helping voters who are purged restore their eligibility. Absent such diversion, the
League would spend its money and member time on getting out the vote for the 2024
general election and planning its advocacy activities for the next year. It would also
hold more voter registration drives.
23. Aside from resource diversion, the Purge Program directly harms the
League’s mission. When voters are unlawfully purged, it decreases the number of
voters in Alabama, contrary to the League’s mission of increasing the number of
registered voters and voter turnout. When voters are intimidated or must take
additional steps to remain registered, it harms the League’s mission of ensuring that
voting is easy and open for all eligible Alabamians.
24. The Purge Program also harms the League’s members. The League’s
membership includes naturalized citizens, and those members are at particular risk
of being purged because they previously received noncitizen identification numbers.
Those members must constantly re-check their registration status, may need to
provide additional documentation to vote, are intimidated by the Purge Program and
the threat of investigation or prosecution, and face other burdens due to the Purge
Program.
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25. Plaintiff Alabama State Conference of the NAACP (AL NAACP) is
the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, Inc. AL NAACP was founded in 1913 and is the oldest and one of the most
significant civil rights organizations in Alabama. AL NAACP has thousands of
members in branches across the state, most of whom are registered voters. Some of
AL NAACP’s members are naturalized citizens. AL NAACP works to ensure the
political, educational, social, and economic equality of Black Americans and all
other Americans. Two central organizational objectives of AL NAACP are the
elimination of racial discrimination in the democratic process and the enforcement
of federal laws and constitutional provisions securing voting rights. Alabama
NAACP’s promotion of voting rights has been central to this mission.
26. AL NAACP regularly engages in voter registration in furtherance of its
mission. In the months preceding a general election, such as September 2024, AL
NAACP typically conducts voter registration at numerous events. AL NAACP also
engages in individual voter registration in the communities it serves, when the
organization encounters individuals who have not registered to vote.
27. The Purge Program has harmed and will continue to harm AL NAACP
and its members. First, AL NAACP has devoted and will devote resources and
members’ time to counteract the effects of the Purge Program, including by seeking
to ascertain the names of individuals on the Purge List, by coordinating a response
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to the Purge Program with local branches and partner groups, and by using volunteer
time to spread the message to communities that AL NAACP serves that voters must
check and re-check voter registration status. AL NAACP has directed those who are
rendered ineligible to call the organization and will use volunteer time to assist any
purged voters who reach out with re-registration.
28. AL NAACP has already expended approximately five hours of
organizational time just in contacting Secretary Allen’s and Attorney General
Marshall’s offices as part of a fruitless quest to determine the names of individuals
on the Purge List, in order to aid eligible voters on the List in accordance with AL
NAACP’s mission. AL NAACP’s president called the Secretary of State’s office,
which referred him to the Attorney General’s office, which then referred him back to
the Secretary of State’s office. The Secretary of State’s office then told AL NAACP’s
president that the office would not provide the lists despite a recent Eleventh Circuit
ruling affirming that the Secretary must make such records accessible to the public
under the National Voter Registration Act. AL NAACP’s president stated that he
wanted to know the names on the lists so that AL NAACP could assist the eligible
voters on the lists in taking action to ensure they are registered to vote. The Secretary
of State’s office repeated that the office would not release the list.
29. AL NAACP has already begun the process of designing written
materials like pamphlets to tell Alabamians to double check their voter registration
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statuses in light of the Purge Program, which has already cost member time. Printing
and distributing those materials, which AL NAACP plans to do, will cost additional
member time and money.
30. Absent such diversion of resources, AL NAACP would be able to spend
more of its time and money on proactive voter education and engagement, instead of
responding to the Purge Program.
31. The Purge Program directly harms AL NAACP in its achievement of its
mission. When voters are unlawfully purged, it decreases the number of voters in
Alabama, contrary to AL NAACP’s goals of securing and promoting voting rights
with a particular focus on voter registration.
32. Further, Secretary Allen’s refusal to release the Purge List harms AL
NAACP’s mission. Because AL NAACP cannot contact the voters on the Purge
List—including any AL NAACP members on the list—AL NAACP cannot further
its goals by ensuring all eligible voters targeted by the Purge Program are registered
to vote.
33. The Purge Program also harms AL NAACP’s members. AL NAACP’s
provide additional documentation in order to vote, are intimidated by the Purge
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Program and the threat of investigation or prosecution, and face other burdens due
to the Purge Program.
34. Plaintiff Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) is a group
of individuals and organizations working for the rights and dignity of all people by
cultivating just policies, encouraging grassroots leadership and participation,
building alliances, and amplifying the voices and contributions of immigrants in
Alabama.
35. ACIJ serves Alabama’s immigrant community statewide and is
headquartered in Irondale. ACIJ has a dues-paying membership of 158 active
members who participate in member-specific programs. Some of ACIJ’s members
are naturalized citizens.
36. ACIJ’s programs include voter registration, get-out-the-vote
canvassing, and encouragement of civic participation year-round in pursuit of an
engaged civic culture among Alabamian immigrant communities. Many of ACIJ’s
programs are English-Spanish bilingual. Voter engagement is a critical part of ACIJ’s
work to help elect representatives who will enact reforms for Alabama’s immigrant
communities.
37. Typically, ACIJ canvasses across Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Decatur,
Montgomery, Mobile, Conecuh County, Madison County, Jefferson County, and
Baldwin County. ACIJ’s civic engagement programs also engage in Tallapoosa
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County, Talladega County, Chilton County, and the cities of Dothan and Enterprise
in the Wiregrass.
38. The Purge Program has impacted ACIJ’s mission and compelled a
diversion of resources. ACIJ has adjusted its get-out-the-vote canvass scripts to
incorporate a thoroughgoing examination to ensure that eligible voters are registered
to vote, including, with voter consent, a live lookup of their voter registration record,
and a diagnosis of whether they may have been impacted by the Purge Program. This
adjustment results in longer door-knocking conversations, greater training needs,
fewer door visits overall, a shrunken canvassing geography, and higher costs of
canvassing since ACIJ’s canvassers are paid by the hour.
39. The adaptations to address the Purge Program have cost core ACIJ staff
(other than canvassers) approximately 20 hours of labor time already. That time
would otherwise have been spent addressing the community crises for immigrants in
Albertville and Sylacauga, which has been an ongoing effort core to ACIJ’s mission
standing up for the rights and dignity of immigrants. ACIJ also anticipates significant
expenditures, previously unplanned, on paper educational materials to address the
impacts of the Purge Program.
40. ACIJ has observed the Purge Program revive fear and concern in
Alabama’s immigrant community. Some eligible voters are reconsidering their plans
to vote due to suspicion they would be monitored by the government or otherwise
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bring trouble on their families, not least because of the involvement of Defendant
Marshall in implementing a voter purge that has swept up naturalized citizens. ACIJ
already faces difficulty in encouraging naturalized citizens to register to vote. Anti-
immigrant rhetoric makes many naturalized citizens nervous to register because they
are afraid of intimidation, targeting, or investigations of exactly the kind deployed in
the Purge Program. Naturalized citizens with mixed status families (families that
include undocumented people) are also afraid that registering to vote or voting may
invite scrutiny that will affect their loved ones. Despite going through the process of
naturalization, these citizens do not exercise their full rights out of fear of retribution.
41. The Purge Program also directly harms ACIJ’s members. ACIJ
provide additional documentation in order to vote, are intimidated by the Purge
Program and the threat of investigation or prosecution, and face other burdens due
to the Purge Program.
42. Plaintiff Roald Hazelhoff is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in
the Netherlands and lives in Jefferson County, Alabama. He has lived in the United
States since 1977, when he moved to the country to study political science at Western
Washington University on a student visa. He became a legal permanent resident
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roughly a decade ago. Plaintiff Hazelhoff has three children, all of whom were born
and raised in the United States. Plaintiff Hazelhoff became a citizen in 2022, first
registered to vote in 2022 in Jefferson County, Alabama, and has previously voted
once pursuant to that registration.
43. Plaintiff Hazelhoff first got an Alabama driver’s license in 1988, prior
to becoming a U.S. citizen. After becoming a citizen, Plaintiff Hazelhoff used his
U.S. passport to obtain an enhanced driver’s license, often called a “star license,”
from the state of Alabama. Plaintiff Hazelhoff applied for Alabama unemployment
benefits in 2018 or 2019 while legally working in the state, before becoming a U.S.
citizen.
44. Following Secretary Allen’s announcement of the Purge Program,
Plaintiff Hazelhoff received a letter from the Chair of the Jefferson County Board of
Registrars informing him that he had been placed on the Purge List. The letter stated,
“Secretary of State Wes Allen has provided our Office with information that shows
you have been issued a noncitizen identification number by the Department of
Homeland Security. You are also a registered voter in Alabama.” The letter informed
Plaintiff Hazelhoff that for this reason “your voter record has been made inactive and
you have been placed on a path for removal from the statewide voter list.” The letter
directed Plaintiff Hazelhoff to “complete and submit the enclosed Voter Removal
Request form to immediately be removed from the voter list and become compliant
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with state and federal law requirements” and simultaneously directed him, if he was
a U.S. citizen and otherwise eligible to register, to complete and submit a state voter
registration form and include his Alabama driver’s license or non-driver
identification number or the last four digits of his Social Security number. The letter
did not state that Plaintiff Hazelhoff would be able to vote in the November 2024
general election if he did not submit a state voter registration form and provide the
additional information listed.
45. Following receipt of the letter, Plaintiff Hazelhoff visited the office of
the Jefferson County Board of Registrars to attempt to fix his voter registration
status. The Board of Registrars directed him to fill out a voter registration form and
write down the last four digits of his social security number. Plaintiff Hazelhoff
completed these steps and turned in the form while at the office.
46. Plaintiff Hazelhoff intends to vote in the 2024 general election.
Although he is presently listed as active on the voter registration rolls, he remains
uncertain whether he will be able to vote on November 5, 2024. Plaintiff Hazelhoff
is further concerned and worried by Secretary Allen’s referral of him to the Attorney
General for criminal investigation despite the fact that he has not violated the law.
47. Plaintiff James Stroop is a U.S.-born citizen and resident of Marshall
County, Alabama. He was born in Melbourne, Florida, and has lived in Alabama
since 1978.
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48. Voting is deeply important to Plaintiff Stroop. Voting is a strong
tradition in Plaintiff Stroop’s family: his mother engrained in him that voting is both
a right and a duty. Many members of Plaintiff Stroop’s family have served in the
military—Plaintiff Stroop’s grandfather retired from the U.S. Navy as an admiral,
for example—and Plaintiff Stroop’s family strongly values serving their country and
views voting as such a duty. Plaintiff Stroop in turn has sought to engrain these same
values in the next generations of his family. Each time one of his grandchildren has
turned 18, he has reminded them that they have the opportunity to register to vote.
Prior to receiving the Purge Letter, Plaintiff Stroop had applied to be a poll worker
for the November general election.
49. Following Secretary Allen’s announcement of the Purge Program,
Plaintiff Stroop received a letter from the Chair of the Marshall County Board of
Registrars informing him that he had been placed on the Purge List, immediately
inactivated as a voter, and “placed on a path for removal from the statewide voter
list” because Secretary Allen had provided the Marshall County Board of Registrars
with information that Plaintiff Stroop was a person previously issued a noncitizen
identification number. The letter instructed Plaintiff Stroop to submit a voter removal
request form to “become compliant with state and federal law requirements” and, if
he was an eligible U.S. citizen, to submit a new voter registration form and his
driver’s license or non-driver ID number or the last four digits of his social security
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number. The letter did not state that Plaintiff Stroop would be able to vote in the
November 2024 general election if he did not submit a state voter registration form
and provide the additional information listed. The language of this letter was
identical to the language in the letter received by Plaintiff Hazelhoff.
50. Following receipt of the letter informing him that he was on the Purge
List, Plaintiff Stroop first called the Marshall County Board of Registrars. The Board
of Registrars transferred him to Secretary Allen’s office. Plaintiff Stroop informed
Secretary Allen’s office that he had never been issued a noncitizen identification
number and was purged in error. In a second phone call, Secretary Allen’s office told
Plaintiff Stroop that he would need to re-register as a voter because information from
the Alabama Department of Labor showed that he was a noncitizen.
51. As a U.S.-born citizen, Plaintiff Stroop has never been issued a
noncitizen identification number. In 2021, he applied for unemployment assistance
after leaving his job of 26 years. While filling out the application forms, he
mistakenly checked a box identifying himself as a noncitizen. The unemployment
office sent him a letter about the form. Plaintiff Stroop mailed the office a form and
a copy of his birth certificate to correct the error. The office informed him in 2022
that the error had been corrected.
52. Plaintiff Stroop called the Alabama Department of Labor after receiving
his purge letter to confirm that his citizenship information on file with the
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Department of Labor was still correct. Soon after, Alabama Labor Secretary
Fitzgerald Washington called Plaintiff Stroop to personally apologize for the error.
Secretary Washington told Plaintiff Stroop that the department had identified at least
15 other errors on the list and that he was concerned about the program.
53. Plaintiff Stroop reapplied to vote through the Alabama Secretary of
State website. While he was told verbally by the Marshall County Board of
Registrars that his voter status is currently active, in light of the ongoing confusion
over his citizenship and voter registration status—despite assurance years ago from
the state of Alabama that the error regarding his citizenship status had been
corrected—Plaintiff Stroop remains uncertain that he will be registered to vote on
Election Day. Plaintiff Stroop has received no written confirmation that he is an
active registered voter in the State of Alabama or that the error regarding his
citizenship status has been resolved.
54. Plaintiff Stroop is concerned and distressed that he has been referred to
the Alabama Attorney General for investigation and possible prosecution. He is
concerned about potential effects on his life, including that criminal investigation
may affect future employment opportunities, may lead to law enforcement coming
to his house to question him, may take up his time in requiring him to respond to the
investigation, and may cause undue stress. Plaintiff Stroop views his referral for
criminal investigation and possible prosecution due to being a registered voter as the
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sort of infringement on civil rights and liberties that happens in authoritarian
regimes.
55. Plaintiff Carmel Michelle Coe is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was
born in England and lives in Elmore County, Alabama. She moved to the United
States in 1979 after marrying her husband, who is a U.S. citizen and retired Marine.
They moved to Alabama in 1994. Plaintiff Coe has worked at Resurrection Catholic
Missions in Montgomery, Alabama since 1994. She is currently the chief executive
assistant. Plaintiff Coe became a citizen in September 2021 and immediately
registered to vote. She voted in Alabama’s primary election earlier this year. Plaintiff
Coe first obtained an Alabama’s driver’s license in 1994. Because she is a naturalized
citizen and has received a noncitizen identification number in the past, she is
concerned that she will be purged from the voter rolls or made inactive before the
November 2024 general election, perhaps due to Secretary Allen’s further “reviews”
of the voter rolls, and therefore will be unable to vote. She also fears that she has
been or will be referred to the Attorney General for investigation or prosecution,
based on Secretary Allen’s announcement of the Purge Program. Although Plaintiff
Coe has not broken the law either by registering to vote or by voting, she is concerned
about the potential for negative consequences from referral to the Attorney General,
particularly as a naturalized citizen.
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56. Plaintiff Emily Asplund Jortner is a naturalized U.S. citizen and is a
resident of Lee County, Alabama. Plaintiff Jortner was born in 1974 in Ontario,
Canada. In August 1992, Plaintiff Jortner moved to the United States on a student
visa to attend college at Brigham Young University in Utah. She remained in the
United States on a combination of school and work visas almost continuously for
approximately 22 years.
57. In 2010, Plaintiff Jortner met her husband, a professor at Auburn
University in Auburn, Alabama. In 2011, Plaintiff Jortner and her husband married.
In 2012, Plaintiff Jortner and her husband moved to their home in Auburn, Alabama,
where they have lived ever since and started their family. In 2015, Plaintiff Jortner
became a legal permanent resident. Since approximately 2015, Plaintiff Jortner has
been a stay-at-home mother to her two minor children, both of whom are U.S.-born
U.S. citizens.
58. In October 2023—after nearly 30 years of living in the United States,
and nearly a decade of being a legal permanent resident—Plaintiff Jortner became a
U.S. citizen. Plaintiff Jortner felt it was important to become a U.S. citizen because
she considers the United States her home country, wanted to share citizenship status
with her children, and wanted to vote. In or around November or December of 2023,
shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen, Plaintiff Jortner registered to vote in Alabama.
24
59. Plaintiff Jortner is distressed, anxious, and fearful that she and/or her
family will be harmed because of Secretary Allen’s Purge Program. Plaintiff Jortner
is currently an active, registered voter in Alabama, but she is concerned that she will
be made inactive and/or purged from the voter rolls before the November 5, 2024
general election due to her prior status as a non-U.S. citizen living in Alabama. She
is further scared that she has been or will be referred to the Alabama Attorney
General for criminal investigation and prosecution for registering to vote and
exercising her right to vote. After decades of living in the United States without the
right to vote, Plaintiff Jortner wants to exercise her right to vote for the first time in
the November general election and to do so without fear of criminal investigation,
prosecution, or other retribution.
Defendants
60. Defendant Wes Allen is the Alabama Secretary of State. The Secretary
of State is “the chief elections official in the state” and “shall provide uniform
guidance for election activities.” Ala. Code § 17-1-3(a); see also Ala. Code §§ 17-4-
60, -63. Defendant Allen is responsible for the design and implementation of the
Purge Program. Defendant Allen created the Purge List, sent the Purge List to the
Boards of Registrars in all 67 counties, directed the Board of Registrars in all 67
counties “to immediately inactivate and initiate steps necessary to remove”
individuals on the Purge List, referred all individuals on the Purge List to Attorney
25
General Marshall for criminal investigation and potential prosecution, and intends
to continue the Purge Program. Defendant Allen is sued in his official capacity.
61. Defendant Steve Marshall is the Attorney General of Alabama. Under
Alabama law, the Attorney General may “at any time he [] deems proper, . . .
superintend and direct the prosecution of any criminal case in any of the courts of
this state,” Ala. Code § 36-15-14, and “direct any district attorney to aid and assist
in the investigation . . . of any case in which the state is interested,” id. § 36-15-15.
Secretary Allen has referred all individuals on the Purge List to Attorney General
Marshall for criminal investigation and possible criminal prosecution. Attorney
General Marshall has endorsed the Purge Program and evinced an intent to engage
in prosecutions pursuant to the Program. Attorney General Marshall is responsible
for criminal investigation and enforcement of the Purge Program. He is sued in his
official capacity.
62. Defendants Jan Bennett, Barry Stephenson, Cindy Willis Thrash, and
Sheila Cox Barbuck are the Chairs of the Boards of Registrars for Elmore, Jefferson,
Lee, and Marshall Counties, respectively.
63. Defendant Chairs of Boards of Registrars are responsible, at the
direction of Secretary Allen, for the implementation of the Purge Program in their
respective Alabama counties. The Boards of Registrars are responsible for removing
26
ineligible voters from the rolls pursuant to state law. See Ala. Code § 17-4-3. The
Defendant Chairs of Boards of Registrars are sued in their official capacities.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
I. Secretary Allen’s Announcement of His Voter Purge Program
64. On August 13, 2024, the Secretary of State’s Office issued a press
release announcing that Secretary Allen is “implement[ing] [a] process to remove”
registered Alabama voters from Alabama’s voter rolls. Exhibit 1, Secretary Allen’s
Press Release.
65. Secretary Allen’s Press Release announced that Secretary Allen “ha[d]
identified 3,251 individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama who have been
issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security.”
Id. Secretary Allen explained in his Press Release that “[w]e have examined the
current voter file in an attempt to identify anyone who appears on that list that has
been issued a noncitizen identification number.” Id.
66. In his Press Release, Secretary Allen admitted that “it is possible that
some of the individuals” on his list of 3,251 registered Alabama voters previously
issued identification numbers as noncitizens by the federal government “have, since
receiving them, become naturalized citizens and are, therefore, eligible to vote.” Id.
In fact, Secretary Allen viewed this possibility as so likely that he created the Re-
Registration Process—a specific process for naturalized citizens on the Purge List,
27
whereby they must submit additional information by completing a new State of
Alabama voter registration form and undergo a verification process, and specifically
described this process in the same press release in which he announced the Purge
Program. Secretary Allen was therefore aware of the virtual certainty that the Purge
List included naturalized citizens who—like U.S.-born American citizens—had
committed no crime by registering to vote.
67. Nevertheless, Secretary Allen’s Press Release announced that Secretary
Allen “today . . . is instructing the Boards of Registrars in all 67 counties to
immediately inactivate and initiate steps necessary to remove” purported
noncitizens. Id.
68. By “immediately inactivat[ing]” the voters on the Purge List and
requiring them to submit a new voter registration form and undergo a verification
process before they are again registered to vote and allowed to vote, the Purge
Program in fact is tantamount to removal of the voters on the Purge List from the
voter rolls. The Purge Program creates a Re-Registration Process by requiring the
voters on the Purge List to submit a new registration form and undergo a verification
process to be on the voter rolls and to vote.
69. Secretary Allen’s Press Release also informed Alabamians that “Allen
has . . . provided the list of registered voters identified as having been issued a
28
noncitizen identification number to the Office of Alabama Attorney General Steve
Marshall for further investigation and possible criminal prosecution.” Ex. 1.
70. Secretary Allen referred those on the Purge List to the Attorney General
for investigation and prosecution while simultaneously admitting the possibility—
and in fact, the virtual certainty—that the Purge List includes naturalized citizens.
Again, Secretary Allen implicitly acknowledged the inclusion of naturalized citizens
on the Purge List as essentially certain, by creating a specific process for naturalized
citizen voters on the Purge List to provide additional information and undergo
verification in order to re-register to vote and, ultimately, to vote.
71. Further, Secretary Allen confirmed in his Press Release that the Purge
Program is ongoing and will continue, stating that “[t]his is not a one-time review of
our voter file” and that “[w]e will continue to conduct such reviews.” Id.
II. Counties Are Implementing Secretary Allen’s Purge Program and

Requiring Voters on the Purge List to Complete a New Voter Registration
Form to Restore Their Active Status
72. Based on public reporting, residents of every Alabama county are on
the Purge List. 1
73. Based on public reporting, 210 Montgomery County residents are on
the Purge List. A representative of the Montgomery County Board of Registrars
1
Jon Paebcke, Alabama Purging 3,251 Noncitizens from Voting Rolls, WVTM 13 (Aug. 14, 2024),
https://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-purging-non-citizens-voting-rolls-election/61881112
(county-by-county numerical breakdown).
29
stated to media, regarding the Purge List, that the Board of Registrars “just got the
list, we followed instructions and sent out the letters.”
74. Based on public reporting, roughly 555 residents of Jefferson County
are on the Purge List. Based on public reporting, these residents have received a
notice letter and must complete a voter registration form to reactivate their voter
registration status. On information and belief, individuals on the Purge List in
numerous if not all counties in Alabama have received identical notice letters stating
that they are on the Purge List. These letters have the same wording as the letter
received by Plaintiff Hazelhoff.
75. The letters are confusing, because they both direct all recipients—with
no exceptions—to complete a voter removal request form to “become compliant
with state and federal law requirements” and direct recipients who are U.S. citizens
eligible to vote to complete an Alabama voter registration form.
76. The letters direct recipients who are U.S. citizens otherwise eligible to
vote to complete the Re-Registration Process. Specifically, recipients must complete
a new voter registration form and provide their Alabama driver’s license number,
their Alabama non-driver identification number, or the last four digits of their Social
Security number.
30
III. The Purge List Includes and By Design Sweeps in Large Numbers of
Naturalized U.S. Citizens
77. On information and belief, the Purge List includes numerous people
who are naturalized U.S. citizens. Despite the fact that these U.S. citizens have the
same fundamental right to vote as U.S.-born U.S. citizens, the Purge Program by
design targets these eligible voters for removal from the voter rolls. The Purge
Program removes these eligible voters from the rolls and requires them to re-register
under the Re-Registration Process in order to vote.
78. Data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that hundreds
and often thousands of Alabama residents are naturalized every year. In Fiscal Year
2022, the most recent year for which data is available, 3,998 Alabama residents
became naturalized citizens.
79. The Census Bureau has found that roughly 61% of naturalized citizens
are registered to vote. 2
80. To become a naturalized citizen, a person must first be a lawful
permanent resident (often colloquially called a “green card holder”) for years. The
sole exceptions are for a small number of people who become naturalized citizens
due to certain service in the U.S. military or who were previously noncitizen
nationals of the United States because they were born in certain U.S. territories. For
2
Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2022, U.S. Census Bureau (April 2023),
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-586.html.
31
that reason, all (or virtually all) naturalized citizens in Alabama lived in the United
States for years before they were citizens, as noncitizens and lawful permanent
residents. 3
81. All naturalized citizens who have previously been permanent residents
of the U.S. have previously been issued a noncitizen identification number by the
federal government—because they have previously been noncitizens with permanent
resident status and an accompanying noncitizen identification number.
82. On information and belief, Secretary Allen has not taken any
meaningful step to ensure that individuals on the Purge List are not naturalized U.S.
citizens, even though (1) all naturalized U.S. citizens have previously been issued a
noncitizen identification number and (2) issuance of a noncitizen identification
number is the sole criterion for placing an individual on the Purge List.
83. To the contrary, Secretary Allen has employed a methodology for
creating the Purge List—the sole criterion of previously having been issued a
3
In addition, some children born outside the U.S. who are legal permanent residents become U.S.
citizens by operation of law, in what is called “derived citizenship.” These children are not required
to go through the naturalization process or obtain any documentation when they become citizens.
When they turn 18, they can register to vote if they are otherwise eligible. Individuals with derived
citizenship were typically children when at least one parent became a naturalized citizen. See
Policy Manual, Chapter 4 - Automatic Acquisition of Citizenship after Birth (INA 320), U.S.
Citizenship & Immigration Servs., https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-h-
chapter-4. Derived citizens are subject to the same unlawful practices as naturalized citizens under
the Purge Program, and the claims regarding the unlawfulness of the Purge Program with respect
to naturalized citizens in this lawsuit apply equally to derived citizens—since they, too, were
previously legal permanent residents.
32
noncitizen identification number—that predictably sweeps in all naturalized citizens
in source agency records. Secretary Allen is aware that his methodology is flawed in
this way: He expressly admitted that “it is possible that some of the individuals” on
the Purge List “have . . . become naturalized citizens and are, therefore, eligible to
vote.” Ex. 1. In fact, Secretary Allen considered this possibility so likely that in the
Purge Program announcement he provided for the Re-Registration Process,
specifically for “those naturalized citizens.” Id. Of course, Secretary Allen’s
language is an extreme understatement; it is not merely a “possibility” that “some”
of the individuals on the Purge List are naturalized citizens but rather a virtual
certainty that many (perhaps most) of the individuals on the Purge List are
naturalized citizens.
84. Secretary Allen created the Purge List based on information regarding
noncitizen identification numbers that Secretary Allen obtained from state agencies.
On information and belief, Secretary Allen used information from at least two state
agencies, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Alabama Department of
Labor, to create the Purge List. Upon information and belief, Secretary Allen used
outdated and error-riddled data to create the Purge List.
33
A. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Citizenship Information
85. Lawful permanent residents and some other noncitizens are eligible for
driver’s licenses in Alabama. Ala. Code § 32-6-10.1 (“Foreign national licenses”).
These driver’s licenses are issued by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
86. To obtain a driver’s license in Alabama, a noncitizen must provide
proof of authorized presence in the United States. Ala. Admin. Code r. 760-X-1-.20.
This proof consists of federal immigration documents or a federal employment
authorization document. Id.
87. Alabama has one of the highest rates of licensed drivers in the country.
In 2022, Alabama had 999 drivers per 1,000 members of the driving age population. 4
88. Because a person must ordinarily be a lawful permanent resident for
years before becoming a naturalized citizen, because a lawful permanent resident
may obtain a driver’s license in Alabama, and because 999 out of 1,000 eligible
individuals in Alabama have a driver’s license, it is extremely likely that many
naturalized citizen residents of Alabama had an Alabama driver’s license before they
became citizens.
89. An Alabama driver’s license lasts for four years before expiration. Ala.
Code § 32-6-1(b). There is no requirement under Alabama law that a person with a
4
Highway Statistics 2022: Licensed Drivers by Sex and Ratio to Population – 2022, U.S. Dep’t of
Transportation, Fed. Highway Admin (Jan. 2024),
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2022/dl1c.cfm.
34
foreign national driver’s license must update their driver’s license when they become
a naturalized citizen, rather than waiting until the expiration of their license.
90. Over the four-year period from Fiscal Year 2017 to 2022—the life span
of an Alabama driver’s license—12,084 Alabama residents became naturalized
citizens. 5 If just 27% of these 12,084 newly naturalized citizens registered to vote
upon their naturalization, they would equal the total number of registered voters on
Secretary Allen’s Purge List.
91. It is virtually certain that more than 27% of the 12,084 citizens who
naturalized over the last four years in Alabama have registered to vote, because
roughly 61% of naturalized citizens are registered to vote.
92. For those reasons, the mere fact that a person once had a foreign
national driver’s license, or even that they currently do, does not demonstrate that
that person is currently a noncitizen. Plaintiffs Hazelhoff, Coe, and Jortner are all
naturalized citizens, for example, and all had a driver’s license in Alabama before
they became citizens.
93. In other states, state officials have created similar legally flawed
programs in reliance on information provided when an individual obtained a driver’s
5
Profiles on Naturalized Citizens, U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Office of Homeland Sec.
Statistics, https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/naturalizations/profiles.
35
license. In each of those cases, public reporting and lawsuits have uncovered that the
programs targeted naturalized citizens.
94. To the extent that Alabama’s Purge Program relies on information
provided upon obtaining a driver’s license, it is highly likely to sweep in many
B. Alabama Department of Labor and Citizenship Information
95. Like other workers in Alabama, noncitizens who are authorized to work
in the United States are eligible for Alabama unemployment compensation if they
lose their job.
96. A noncitizen worker who files a claim for unemployment compensation
with the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) must supply ADOL with a
noncitizen identification number. ADOL may then subsequently verify the number
with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to determine that the worker is
authorized to work in the United States.
97. Typically, a worker who is eligible for unemployment benefits in
Alabama qualifies for roughly fourteen to twenty full benefit weeks.
98. If a worker receives unemployment benefits as a noncitizen and
subsequently becomes a naturalized citizen, they are under no obligation to update
ADOL as to their new citizenship status.
36
99. If a worker receives unemployment benefits as a noncitizen and
subsequently becomes a naturalized citizen, they have no reason to update ADOL as
to their new citizenship status unless they file again for unemployment benefits.
C. The Purge Program Likely Flags Large Numbers of Eligible,

Registered Voters Who Are Naturalized Citizens
100. Because Secretary Allen’s Purge Program only considers, as the sole
criterion for including an individual on the Purge List, whether they have ever had a
noncitizen identification number, the Purge Program is likely to flag large numbers
of eligible and registered voters who are naturalized citizens, leading to their
removal from the voter rolls.
101. By contrast, U.S.-born citizens are meant to be categorically excluded
from the Purge Program—because the only criterion for the Purge Program is
whether an individual has been issued a noncitizen identification number.
102. Because the Purge Program by design singles out individuals who were
once noncitizens and subjects them to scrutiny not faced by U.S.-born citizens, the
Purge Program discriminates against naturalized citizens.
103. Further, naturalized citizens in Alabama overwhelmingly come from
communities of color that have historically been subject to discrimination in the
exercise of their voting rights. For instance, in fiscal year 2022, the top five countries
of origin for the 3,998 naturalized Alabama residents were Mexico (578), India
(416), Vietnam (316), the Philippines (244), and South Korea (193). The top five
37
countries of origin for the 1,614 naturalized Alabama residents in fiscal year 2021
were the same: Mexico (234), India (167), the Philippines (141), Vietnam (137), and
South Korea (94). 6
104. By disproportionately burdening the right to vote for naturalized
citizens in Alabama, Secretary Allen’s Purge Program thus burdens the right to vote
for citizens from communities of color that have historically suffered discrimination
and discriminates against voters from communities of color.
IV. The Purge Program’s Effects on Naturalized Citizens
105. Secretary Allen “instruct[ed] the Boards of Registrars in all 67
counties,” pursuant to the Purge Program, to take immediate steps to remove all
3,251 people on the Purge List from the Alabama voter rolls, and to require them to
successfully complete the Re-Registration Process in order to vote and be registered
to vote. Ex. 1.
106. Registration is the largest obstacle to voting in the United States. H.R.
Rep. No. 103-9, at 3 (1993) (“Public opinion polls, along with individual testimony
. . . indicate that failure to become registered is the primary reason given by eligible
citizens for not voting. It is generally accepted that over 80 percent of those citizens
who are registered vote in Presidential elections.”).
6
Profiles on Naturalized Citizens, U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Office of Homeland Sec.
Statistics, https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/naturalizations/profiles-naturalized-citizens.
38
107. The notice letters sent by local registrars at Secretary Allen’s direction
directed individuals on the Purge List—including naturalized and U.S. Born
citizens—to complete the Re-Registration Process. Secretary Allen has kept the
details of the Re-Registration Process secret, including what exactly the
“verifi[cation]” process entails. However, the letters sent by county Boards of
Registrars to individuals on the Purge List direct recipients who are eligible Alabama
voters to submit anew a voter registration form, along with their Alabama driver’s
license or non-driver ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security
number.
108. In effect, Alabama’s Purge Program subjects naturalized citizens who
have previously attested to their U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury—as all
other Alabama voters do—a duplicative, arbitrary, and discriminatory Re-
Registration Process in order to vote and be on the voter rolls.
109. This program was announced just 84 days before in-person voting in
the November 2024 general election in Alabama, and even fewer days before the
start of absentee voting. This short time frame creates an additional barrier for
naturalized citizens to complete the Re-Registration Process created by the Purge
Program in order to vote.
110. Because the Purge Program knowingly and by design places these
additional burdens on naturalized citizens by intentionally relying on flawed and
39
incomplete citizenship data, it is discriminatory. Under the Purge Program,
naturalized citizens are subjected to a heightened burden on their exercise of the
right to vote relative to U.S.-born citizens, simply because they were at one time not
U.S. citizens.
111. The Purge Program deters naturalized citizens from exercising their
right to vote. Although they are eligible once they naturalize, rhetoric against
noncitizen voting makes them feel that they still do not have this right.
112. The Purge Program puts naturalized citizens at unique risk of being
removed from the voter rolls and uniquely burdens naturalized citizens with re-
registering to vote under the Re-Registration Process—within a narrow window of
time if they wish to vote in the November 2024 general election.
V. Secretary Allen’s Purge List Also Erroneously Includes Individuals

Who Are U.S.-Born U.S. Citizens
113. By design, Secretary Allen’s Purge Program includes naturalized U.S.
citizens. On information and belief, his Purge List includes numerous individuals
who are U.S.-born U.S. citizens, due to Alabama agencies erroneously identifying
these individuals as having had a noncitizen identification number and Secretary
Allen thus erroneously including them on his Purge List—for which having ever had
a noncitizen identification number is the sole criterion.
40
114. On information and belief, the Purge List inaccurately identified James
Stroop, a U.S.-born U.S. citizen, as an individual issued a noncitizen identification
number.
115. On information and belief, the Alabama Department of Labor has
identified at least 15 errors on the Purge List.
VI. Intent to Continue Purge and to Criminally Investigate Individuals

on the Purge List
116. Secretary Allen has publicly expressed his intent to continue his Purge
Program. Secretary Allen told media about his Purge Program, “We’re going to keep
pushing and we’re not going to slow down.” He further told media that his office
had obtained noncitizen identification numbers from two state agencies and is
“working to obtain more.” 7
117. Secretary Allen’s expressed intent to continue the Purge Program chills
naturalized citizens in Alabama from exercising their right to register and vote and
intimidates these eligible U.S. voters with threats of unwarranted criminal
investigation and prosecution.
118. As part of the Purge Program, Secretary Allen has referred all
individuals on the Purge List for criminal investigation and potential prosecution by
7
Jon Paebcke, Alabama Purging 3,251 Noncitizens From Voting Rolls, WVTM 13 (Aug. 14,
2024), https://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-purging-non-citizens-voting-rolls-
election/61881112.
41
the Office of the Alabama Attorney General. Secretary Allen has taken this step
notwithstanding his admission that the Purge List almost certainly includes
119. Attorney General Marshall has publicly endorsed Secretary Allen’s
Purge Program. On X (formerly Twitter), Attorney General Marshall stated in his
official capacity (@AGSteveMarshall): “Alabama knows how to run elections. Well
done by @alasecofstate Wes Allen. BE ADVISED: Violations of state election laws
will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The post linked to an article about
Secretary Allen’s Purge Program. 8 Attorney General Marshall’s endorsement creates
the perception for the reasonable Alabama observer that Attorney General Marshall’s
office is engaging in the Purge Program by investigating the individuals on the Purge
List.
120. Secretary Allen’s referral of all individuals on the Purge List for
criminal investigation and potential prosecution, as well as Attorney General
Marshall’s endorsement of the Purge Program, intimidate and create a chilling effect
for naturalized citizens in Alabama as to voter registration and voting.
121. The letters to individuals on the Purge List from the Boards of
Registrars—identical across several counties, and therefore likely created by
8
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall), X (Aug. 14, 2024, 7:33 AM),
https://x.com/AGSteveMarshall/status/1823699430081704083.
42
Secretary Allen’s office—likewise create a chilling effect for recipients and
intimidate these eligible voters. Specifically, by directing all recipients to complete
a voter removal request form “to immediately be removed from the voter list and
become compliant with state and federal law requirements,” these letters sent as part
of Secretary Allen’s Purge Program intimidate and coerce eligible voters who receive
them into removing themselves from the voter rolls.
122. The letters themselves implicitly admit that at least some recipients are
eligible voters, because they provide additional instructions for eligible voters.
Nevertheless, they direct all recipients to complete a voter removal request form. In
so doing, they attempt to intimidate and coerce eligible voters into giving up their
right to vote.
VII. Secretary Allen’s Belated and Unsuccessful Attempt to Downplay the

Purge Program
123. On August 19, 2024, Plaintiffs LWVAL, AL NAACP, and ACIJ, along
with other organizations, sent a pre-suit notice letter under the NVRA to Secretary
Allen, copying Attorney General Marshall and the County Boards of Registrars. That
letter is attached as Exhibit 2.
124. Plaintiffs’ notice letter warned of potential violations of the NVRA and
included three straightforward demands: (1) Discontinue the Purge Program; (2)
publicly announce that “no person shall be removed from Alabama’s voter rolls
pursuant to the Program and that no person shall be removed from Alabama’s voter
43
rolls based on the fact of having” had a DHS noncitizen ID number; and (3) notify
“any and all individuals contacted or noticed pursuant to the Program that they
remain registered to vote in Alabama elections, including the November 2024
election, and that no further action on their part is needed.” Exhibit 2.
125. On September 6, 2024, General Counsel for Secretary Allen responded
by letter to Plaintiffs’ notice letter (Secretary Allen’s response). That letter is attached
as Exhibit 3.
126. As to the first demand in Plaintiffs’ NVRA notice letter, to discontinue
the Purge Program, Secretary Allen’s response denied that any program exists,
stating, “there is no voter removal program operating systematically or otherwise in
Alabama in advance of the 2024 general election as referenced in your letter.”
Secretary Allen’s response claimed that “[o]nly registered voters on the list of 3,251
who have requested to be removed, themselves, in writing, have been removed.” The
response further stated, “Discrete self-removal is available for all such individuals,
meaning the applicable removal form does not require an individual to disclose a
reason for their request.” Exhibit 3.
127. Secretary Allen’s response omitted that letters sent by county Boards of
Registrars to individuals on the Purge List order recipients to “[p]lease complete and
submit the enclosed Voter Removal Request form to immediately be removed from
the voter list and become compliant with state and federal law requirements.” The
44
wording of the letters is identical across multiple counties, indicating that their
language comes directly from Secretary Allen. By directing recipients to submit a
voter removal request form to “become compliant with state and federal law
requirements,” these letters intimidate recipients who are eligible voters by falsely
leading recipients to believe they have violated the law, threaten to cause eligible
voters to remove themselves from the voter rolls, and may have already done so. As
a result, requests for removal sent pursuant to the receipt of a Board of Registrars
letter are not voluntary removals independent of underlying intimidation. Rather,
they are the product of intimidation and coercion.
128. Secretary Allen’s response further elided that county Boards of
Registrars have targeted only voters on the Purge List, rather than all voters, in
mailing voter removal request forms and directing these voters to fill out the form to
“become compliant with state and federal law requirements.”
129. As to the second demand in Plaintiffs’ notice letter, to make a public
statement that no voter would be removed pursuant to the Purge Program, Secretary
Allen’s response neither acknowledged the request nor made any commitment to
inform the public of his view that there is no voter removal program underway. In
the public square, the Secretary has been conspicuously silent about this view as
well. Instead, as of September 12th, the announcements page on the Secretary’s
website still prominently features the initial press release headline: “Secretary of
45
State Wes Allen Implements Process to Remove Noncitizens Registered to Vote in
Alabama.” 9
130. As to the third demand in Plaintiffs’ notice letter, to notify voters that
they remain registered to vote and that they need not take further action, Secretary
Allen’s response neither made any commitment to alleviate voters’ worries nor
assured that voters need not take further action. On the contrary, the wording of the
voter notices (“submit a voter removal request form to become compliant with state
and federal law requirements”) stands at odds with Secretary Allen’s response to
Plaintiffs, which claims that “registered voters with noncitizen data associated with
their records on the list of 3,251 are simply being invited to correct or update their
voter registration form as applicable to their circumstances.” The response also
asserted that the process for such voters to return to the active voter rolls “is no
different for any voter placed on inactive status, whether so classified due to an
address-related reason or an eligibility-based issue” (emphasis added).
131. But this purported “invit[ation]” to submit a new voter registration form
is a requirement for anyone on the Purge List to vote in future elections in Alabama.
As the Press Release from Secretary Allen’s office stated, the Purge Program
immediately inactivates individuals on the Purge List and initiates steps to remove
those individuals from the voter rolls. Letters from county Boards of Registrars to
9
Ala. Sec’y of State, Newsroom (Sep. 12, 2024), https://www.sos.alabama.gov/newsroom.
46
individuals on the Purge List confirm that recipients “have been placed on the path
for removal from the statewide voter list.”
132. Even Secretary Allen’s response to the NVRA letter confirms that
individuals on the Purge List must, because they are on the Purge List, re-register in
order to vote. Secretary Allen’s response claims this re-registration “is no different
for any voter placed in inactive status, whether so classified due to an address-related
reason or an eligibility-based issue.” But the response fails to acknowledge that the
re-registration Secretary Allen and county Boards of Registrar require for people on
the Purge List is materially different from the lack of such requirement for
individuals not placed on the Purge List. While voters on the Purge List must submit
a new voter registration form, all other inactive voters need only complete a “voter
reidentification form.” Secretary Allen’s response also fails to acknowledge that this
re-registration requirement is based on discriminatory and arbitrary information that
does not accurately reflect any “eligibility-based issue” regarding voting.
133. Worse still, while Secretary Allen’s response stated that voters could
submit an updated registration form on Election Day, that information is not in the
letters sent by county Boards of Registrars to individuals on the Purge List. The
deadline to register to vote for the 2024 general election in Alabama is October 21,
2024. Voter registration forms for the State of Alabama—the forms that voters on the
Purge List must complete in order to vote—state at the top of the form that the
47
deadline for voter registration and updating of voter records is 14 days prior to each
election in Alabama, and that in the 14-day window before the election voter
registration is closed. By telling eligible voters that they must complete a new voter
registration form, the letter creates the impression for the reasonable Alabama
recipient that they must re-register by October 21, the registration deadline, in order
to vote in the 2024 general election.
134. On information and belief, the Secretary of State has issued no
corrective notice or communication to voters on the Purge List since the initial,
identical notices instructing that they request to self-remove or engage in the Re-
Registration Process.
135. Taken together, Secretary Allen’s response conflicts with observable
reality in several respects and almost entirely ignores Plaintiffs’ straightforward
demands. When Plaintiffs’ notice letter demanded an end to the Purge Program, the
response denied any program existed. When Plaintiffs’ notice letter demanded a
public clarification that voters would not be removed according to the Purge Program
as the Press Release described it, the response ignored this demand and the Secretary
instead has maintained the Press Release online. Crucially, when Plaintiffs’ notice
letter demanded follow-up outreach to voters assuring them that they would be able
to vote and that further action was unnecessary, the response was silent, and voters
have received no such assurance from the Secretary.
48
136. In short, Secretary Allen’s response is a belated and unconvincing effort
to downplay the serious effects of the Purge Program on Alabamian voters,
particularly naturalized citizens. The numerous instances in which reality belies
Secretary Allen’s response indicate that voters on the Purge List remain on a path
toward removal, constructively or otherwise, and that the Secretary is currently
implementing and intends to continue to implement the Purge Program.
VIII. Alabama’s History of Discrimination in Voting and Toward

Immigrants
137. Alabama has a long history of enacting voting restrictions to target and
disenfranchise voters of color.
138. For example, in 1893, in response to increased Black political activism,
Alabama passed the Sayre Law. See Harris v. Siegelman, 695 F. Supp. 517, 525
(M.D. Ala. 1988). Among other restrictions, the Sayre Law required a person seeking
assistance with voting to swear an oath to the inspectors that he or she was unable to
write the English language. It also limited the time that a voter could remain inside
the voting booth to five minutes. Id. at 525.
139. In 1901, all-white delegates crafted a new state Constitution, which
conditioned the right to vote on land ownership and employment, and instituted a
poll tax, literacy test, criminal disenfranchisement rule, and a “grandfather clause”
to keep descendants of enslaved people from voting. See South Carolina v.
Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 311-12 (1966). By 1909, only 4,000 of the nearly 182,000
49
Black persons of voting age in Alabama remained on the voter rolls. Harris, 695 F.
Supp. at 523-24.
140. Over the next half-century, Alabama passed a series of other laws
requiring “black persons who wished to register and vote to satisfy different and
more stringent standards and tests than white persons” and constructed
discriminatory poll taxes and other barriers to the ballot. Harris, 695 F. Supp. at 524.
Federal courts repeatedly struck down these restrictions as violating the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments and other civil rights laws. See United States v. Penton,
212 F. Supp. 193, 197 (M.D. Ala. 1962) (holding that state officials “deliberately
and consistently engaged in procedures and practices which [] favored white
applicants and discriminated against Negro applicants who were seeking to become
registered voters”); United States v. Parker, 236 F. Supp. 511, 515 (M.D. Ala. 1964)
(holding that Alabama’s voter registration application violated the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1964); Davis v. Schnell, 81 F.
Supp. 872, 874 (S.D. Ala. 1949) (holding that state constitution amendment
requiring prospective voters to “understand and explain” article of U.S. Constitution
violated Fifteenth Amendment).
141. Even after the Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965, which subjected
Alabama to the pre-clearance provisions of Section 5 thereunder, Alabama’s
attempts to disenfranchise and dilute the power of voters of color persisted. Between
50
1965 and 2013, at least 100 voting changes proposed by Alabama state, county, or
city officials were either blocked or altered pursuant to the VRA.
142. Now Alabama is targeting its growing immigrant population through a
voter purge intended to intimidate and disenfranchise naturalized citizens.
143. This is not the first time Alabama has targeted the state’s Hispanic and
immigrant population. In 2011, the Alabama state legislature passed HB 56, a
draconian law targeting the state’s undocumented residents. Among other severe
restrictions, the law required schools to collect data on their students’ immigration
status, which the Eleventh Circuit found violated the Equal Protection Clause. Hisp.
Int. Coal. of Ala. v. Governor of Alabama, 691 F.3d 1236, 1249 (11th Cir. 2012). It
prohibited courts from enforcing certain contracts—even contracts for basic
necessities—entered into by undocumented residents, a restriction the Eleventh
Circuit described as making “the ability to maintain even a minimal existence [] no
longer an option for unlawfully present aliens in Alabama.” United States v.
Alabama, 691 F.3d 1269, 1293 (11th Cir. 2012). The law also criminalized even an
undocumented resident’s mere application for work in the state, including for work
as an independent contractor. Id. at 1277. The most egregious provisions of HB 56
were permanently enjoined as a result of an agreement reached between the state and
civil rights groups who filed a federal class action lawsuit alleging numerous
constitutional violations. However, vestiges of the law still remain today. For
51
example, undocumented residents remain barred from attending state-funded higher
education institutions.
CLAIMS
COUNT ONE
Violation of the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20507(c)(2)(A)
(Ex parte Young, 52 U.S.C. § 20510)
All Plaintiffs Against All Defendants
140. Plaintiffs reallege, as though fully set forth in this paragraph, all the
allegations of this Complaint.
141. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires that Alabama
complete “any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names
of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” “not later than 90 days
prior to the date of a . . . general election for Federal office.” 52 U.S.C. §
20507(c)(2)(A). This provision, called the “90-Day Provision,” means that Alabama
may not take any steps to implement any program to systematically remove voters
within the 90-day period before the date of a general election—the “quiet period.”
142. The Purge Program violates the NVRA’s 90-Day Provision because it
(1) is a program with the purpose of systematically removing voters from the rolls
and (2) has not been completed before the 90-day quiet period before the 2024
general election, and in fact has occurred and is occurring entirely within the quiet
period.
52
143. On August 19, 2024, Plaintiffs ACIJ, AL NAACP, and LWVAL sent a
notice letter to Secretary Allen, copying Attorney General Marshall and county
Boards of Registrars, informing Secretary Allen that the Purge Program violates the
NVRA’s 90-Day Provision. Secretary Allen has not corrected the violations
identified by Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs ACIJ, AL NAACP, and LWVAL have therefore
provided pre-suit notice pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 20510(b)(2).
COUNT TWO
Violation of the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20507(b)(1)
141. The NVRA requires that voter list maintenance programs be “uniform”
and “nondiscriminatory.” 52 U.S.C. § 20507(b)(1).
142. Secretary Allen’s Purge Program violates the NVRA’s requirement that
voter list maintenance programs be (1) “uniform” and (2) “nondiscriminatory”
because it targets and disproportionately burdens naturalized citizens. Because
Secretary Allen’s Purge Program bases the Purge List on whether an individual has
ever been issued a noncitizen identification number, Secretary Allen’s Purge
Program is designed to affect only naturalized, not U.S.-born, citizens, and it
53
knowingly places burdens exclusively on those citizens who Alabama believes to be
naturalized.
143. On August 19, 2024, Plaintiffs ACIJ, AL NAACP, and LWVAL sent a
notice letter to Secretary Allen, copying Attorney General Marshall and county
Boards of Registrars, informing Secretary Allen that the Purge Program violates the
NVRA’s requirement that voter list maintenance programs be “uniform” and
“nondiscriminatory.” 52 U.S.C. § 20507(b)(1). Plaintiffs ACIJ, AL NAACP, and
LWVAL have therefore provided pre-suit notice pursuant to 52 U.S.C. §
20510(b)(2).
COUNT THREE
Violation of the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20507(a)
145. The NVRA requires that Alabama “ensure that any eligible applicant is
registered to vote in an election” if they apply to register within the registration
deadline through the NVRA’s prescribed methods. 52 U.S.C. § 20507(a)(1).
146. Removals of eligible voters from the voter list pursuant to purported
self-requests under the Purge Program are not free and voluntary requests for
removal under § 20507(a)(3)(A). The letters sent pursuant to the Purge Program
direct all recipients to complete and return a removal request form “to . . . become
54
compliant with state and federal law requirements.” Because the letters direct all
recipients to take these steps and imply that doing so is necessary to comply with the
law, letter recipients are not freely and voluntarily requesting removal from the rolls.
This lack of voluntariness is compounded by Secretary Allen’s public referral of all
individuals on the list for criminal investigation and prosecution and Attorney
General Marshall’s public statements evincing intent to prosecute.
147. By relying on data that Secretary Allen publicly acknowledges
inaccurately includes eligible voters to inactivate voter registrations and require
voters to complete an additional process to re-register to vote, Secretary Allen’s
Purge Program does not ensure that eligible applicants remain registered to vote in
future elections. By directing those on the Purge List to remove themselves from the
voter rolls under threat of criminal prosecution, Secretary Allen’s Purge Program
does not evade this legal requirement: eligible voters’ removal of themselves from
the voter rolls is not free or voluntary. Accordingly, the Purge Program violates the
NVRA.
COUNT FOUR
Violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause
Discrimination Based on Citizenship Classification and National Origin
55
149. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits
states from “deny[ing] to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.”
150. Under the Equal Protection Clause, discrimination based on naturalized
citizenship and on national origin is presumptively unconstitutional and subject to
strict scrutiny.
151. The Purge Program, designed by Secretary Allen and implemented by
Secretary Allen, Attorney General Marshall, and county Boards of Registrars,
discriminates against naturalized citizens by creating a process that by design will
include all naturalized citizens but categorically excludes all U.S.-born citizens.
Defendants treat naturalized citizens differently from U.S.-born citizens by requiring
naturalized citizens who have previously interacted with the state using their
noncitizen identification number to submit new information under the threat of being
removed from the voter rolls and losing their right to vote. This requirement, by
design, does not apply to U.S.-born citizens.
152. Defendants further treat naturalized citizens differently from U.S.-born
citizens by publicly referring naturalized citizens who have previously interacted
with the state using their noncitizen identification number for criminal investigation
and threatening to prosecute them. U.S.-born citizens are exempt from such
investigation and threat of prosecution, while naturalized citizens are subject to
56
investigation and threat of prosecution.
153. Secretary Allen acknowledges that the Purge Program by its very terms
includes naturalized citizens. The Purge Program creates a classification that
discriminates against naturalized citizens.
154. Because the Purge List is based on information that at some point
individuals on the Purge List were not U.S. citizens, Secretary Allen is classifying
individuals on the basis of national origin.
155. The classification established by the Purge List is neither justified by
nor narrowly tailored to promote substantial or compelling state interests.
156. The fact that some U.S.-born citizens have been swept into the Purge
Program through Secretary Allen’s erroneous identification of them as having
previously had noncitizen identification numbers adds further arbitrariness in
implementation of the Purge Program but does not undermine the design of the Purge
Program to target naturalized citizens and categorically exclude U.S.-born citizens.
157. Through the Purge Program, Defendants unlawfully discriminate
against Alabamians on the basis of national origin and with respect to the
fundamental right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Defendants
treat foreign-born citizens differently from those born in the United States by
imposing greater burdens on foreign-born citizens’ right to vote, referring foreign-
born citizens for criminal investigation for registering to vote, and threatening
57
foreign-born citizens with criminal prosecution for registering to vote and voting.
158. Through the Purge Program, Defendants also unlawfully discriminate
against a group of citizens—naturalized citizens—with respect to the fundamental
right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Through the Purge Program,
Defendants impose greater burdens on foreign-born citizens’ right to vote, refer
foreign-born citizens for criminal investigation for registering to vote, and threaten
foreign-born citizens with criminal prosecution for registering to vote and voting.
COUNT FIVE
Violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause
Arbitrary and Disparate Treatment
160. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits
states from “deny[ing] to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.” “A citizen has a constitutionally protected right to participate in elections
on an equal basis with other citizens in the jurisdiction.” Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S.
330, 336 (1972). Alabama may not engage in “arbitrary and disparate treatment” of
similarly situated voters. Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 104-05 (2000).
161. Although they are similarly situated, registered voters on the Purge List
are treated differently from registered voters not on the Purge List. Specifically, the
58
Purge Program requires registered voters on the Purge List to re-register under the
Re-Registration Process—including by completing a voter registration form anew
and undergoing a verification process—to vote in the 2024 general election and other
future elections and to be registered to vote. Voters not on the Purge List are not
subject to this process and are not being required to re-register under the Re-
Registration Process. Voters not on the Purge List who are on Alabama’s ordinary
inactive list are not subject to the Re-Registration Process and need not complete an
entirely new registration form. Secretary Allen has also publicly referred these
registered voters to Attorney General Marshall for criminal investigation and
potential prosecution, and Attorney General Marshall has evinced an intent to
investigate. Registered voters who are not on the Purge List have not been
systematically referred to Attorney General Marshall for criminal investigation and
potential prosecution.
162. The criterion used to select registered voters for inclusion on the Purge
List is both arbitrary as a means of ferreting out ineligible voters, and discriminatory
in that it targets naturalized citizens for extra burdens. The fact of having once had
a noncitizen identification number is neither proof nor a reliable indicator that a
registered voter is currently a noncitizen.
163. The inclusion of registered voters on the Purge List is also arbitrary
because the Purge List contains numerous errors even based on its own criterion.
59
That is, the Purge List includes multiple individuals who have never in fact been
issued a noncitizen identification number.
164. Voters on the Purge List face a different, arbitrary, and unnecessarily
burdensome set of barriers to register and vote than voters not on the Purge List. The
Purge Program is not narrowly tailored to a potential state interest. Nor is there any
rational basis for treating voters on the Purge List and voters not on the Purge List
differently. Thus, Secretary Allen’s design and Secretary Allen’s, Attorney General
Marshall’s, and county Boards of Registrars’ implementation of the Purge Program
violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
COUNT SIX
Violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments
Undue Burden on the Right to Vote
166. The Purge Program lacks adequate justification and burdens the ability
of eligible voters to vote, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
167. The Purge Program is burdensome, unnecessary, and discriminatory. It
subjects registered, eligible voters identified under the Purge Program to
intimidation in the form of a letter threatening them with unjustified criminal
60
prosecution and requires them to re-register under the Re-Registration Process in
order to vote and be on the voter rolls. Voters must complete the Re-Registration
Process, re-registering to vote and undergoing verification, in order to vote and be
on the voter rolls.
COUNT SEVEN
Violation of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b)
All Plaintiffs Against Secretary Allen and Attorney General Marshall
169. Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act prohibits any person, whether
acting under color of law or otherwise, from intimidating, threatening, or coercing,
or attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting
to vote. 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b).
170. In announcing the Purge Program, Secretary Allen publicly announced
that he was referring all individuals on the Purge List to Attorney General Marshall’s
office for “further investigation and possible criminal prosecution.” Ex. 1.
171. In the exact same announcement, Secretary Allen admitted the virtual
certainty that naturalized citizens—who are eligible to vote—are on the Purge List.
This outcome is foreseeable, because Secretary Allen’s sole criterion for including
individuals on the Purge List is that they at one point had a noncitizen identification
number, and all naturalized citizens have had a noncitizen identification number.
61
172. And this foreseeable outcome was in fact foreseen, because Secretary
Allen established the Re-Registration Process specifically for naturalized citizens,
as he stated in his announcement of the Purge Program. While intent is not a required
element of this claim, Secretary Allen thus acted with intent, knowledge, and
reckless disregard in designing and implementing the Purge Program to predictably
create fear of unwarranted criminal prosecution and stoke anxiety among eligible
Alabama voters, particularly naturalized citizens, about criminal investigation and
prosecution for registering to vote and voting.
173. Attorney General Marshall has likewise endorsed the Purge Program.
Attorney General Marshall’s endorsement creates the impression for the reasonable
Alabama observer that his office is engaging in and will engage in criminal
investigations and prosecutions pursuant to Secretary Allen’s referral of all
individuals on the Purge List to the Office of the Attorney General.
174. Further, letters sent by county Boards of Registrar to voters on the Purge
List direct all recipients to complete and return a removal request form “to . . .
become compliant with state and federal law requirements.” Because the letters
direct all recipients to take these steps and imply that doing so is necessary to comply
with the law, the letters intimidate and coerce recipients who are eligible voters into
removing themselves from the voter rolls. The intimidation and coercion are
compounded by Secretary Allen’s public referral of all individuals on the Purge List
62
for criminal investigation and possible prosecution and Attorney General Marshall’s
statements evincing an intent to criminally investigate the individuals on the Purge
List.
175. On information and belief, Secretary Allen is responsible for the
language in the letters sent by county Boards of Registrars throughout Alabama.
176. Since Secretary Allen’s announcement of the Purge Program on August
13, 2024, public reporting has made clear that the Purge List contains many eligible
Alabama voters. But neither Secretary Allen nor Attorney General Marshall have
publicly acknowledged the errors or taken any public steps to ensure that eligible
Alabama voters targeted by the Purge Program know that they can vote in the 2024
election. Rather, Secretary Allen has further publicly stated that he intends to
continue the Purge Program and intends to gather data from additional agencies.
177. Secretary Allen’s and Attorney General Marshall’s statements and
conduct are intimidating to eligible Alabama voters on the Purge List, including
naturalized citizens, and to naturalized citizens in Alabama who worry that they are
included on the current Purge List or will be included on a future purge list.
178. Secretary Allen’s and Attorney General Marshall’s statements and
conduct have the effects of chilling eligible voters, particularly naturalized citizens,
in voting, registering to vote, and participating in the democratic process, and of
63
reducing the likelihood that eligible voters, particularly naturalized citizens, will
register to vote and will vote.
179. Secretary Allen’s and Attorney General Marshall’s actions intimidate
and threaten naturalized citizens who are eligible voters for voting and attempting to
vote, including by registering to vote. Secretary Allen’s and Attorney General
Marshall’s actions attempt to intimidate and threaten naturalized citizens who are
eligible voters for voting and attempting to vote, including by registering to vote.
Thus, Secretary Allen and Attorney General Marshall have violated and are violating
52 U.S.C. § 10307.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
Wherefore, Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court enter judgment in
their favor and against Defendants, and award the following relief:
a. Declare that Secretary Allen’s Purge Program violates federal law and
the United States Constitution;
b. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants from implementing
the Purge Program and from inactivating or removing any voter from the rolls on the
basis of the Purge List, on the basis of having previously been issued a noncitizen
identification number, or on the basis of failing to respond to a notice letter issued
due to the Purge List or prior issuance of a noncitizen identification number;
64
c. Order Defendants Allen and Chairs of County Boards of Registrars to
retract the notice letters already sent out on the basis of the Purge List;
d. Order Defendants Allen and Chairs of County Boards of Registrars to
place back on the rolls in active status any persons who were removed from the rolls,
including by being placed in inactive status, as a result of implementation of the
Purge List;
e. Order all Defendants to take all such steps as are necessary to alert all
individuals on the Purge List and the public that the notice letters sent pursuant to
the Purge List are being rescinded, that all eligible voters on the Purge List may vote
in the November 2024 general election, and that all eligible voters on the Purge List
are on the voter rolls and need not re-register to vote;
f. Order all Defendants to take all such steps as are necessary to alert all
individuals on the Purge List and the public that no voter on the Purge List will be
criminally investigated or prosecuted on the basis of the Purge List or otherwise
absent specific, individualized information that they have violated a law, that
naturalized citizens have a fundamental right to vote on an equal basis with U.S.-
born citizens, and that otherwise eligible voters who are naturalized citizens are
eligible to vote and will not be criminally investigated or prosecuted for voting
because they have committed no crime;
65
g. Enter an order pursuant to Section 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act, 52
U.S.C. § 10302(c), retaining jurisdiction for such period of time as may be
appropriate, and requiring preclearance of voting changes that the State of Alabama
enacts or seeks to administer with respect to removal of persons from the voting rolls
on grounds of alleged non-citizenship, as specified in Section 3(c);
h. Award Plaintiffs their costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees in this action;
i. Retain jurisdiction over this matter until all Defendants have complied
with all orders and mandates of this Court; and
j. Grant Plaintiffs such other relief as this Court may deem just and proper.
Date: September 13, 2024 Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Joseph Mitchell McGuire /s/ Danielle Lang

Joseph Mitchell McGuire (ASB-8317- Danielle Lang*
S69M) Brent Ferguson*
MCGUIRE & ASSOCIATES, LLC Kathryn Huddleston*
31 Clayton Street
Kate Hamilton*
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
334-517-1000 Office Shilpa Jindia*
334-517-1327 Fax CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER
jmcguire@mandabusinesslaw.com 1101 14th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
/s/ Michelle Kanter Cohen (202) 736-2200
Michelle Kanter Cohen (D.C. Bar No.
dlang@campaignlegalcenter.org
989164)*
Nina Beck (WI State Bar No. 1079460)* bferguson@campaignlegalcenter.org
Jon Sherman (D.C. Bar No. 998271)* khuddleston@campaignlegalcenter.org
FAIR ELECTIONS CENTER khamilton@campaignlegalcenter.org
1825 K St. NW, Ste. 701 sjindia@campaignlegalcenter.org
Washington, D.C. 20006
66
(202) 331-0114
/s/ Ellen Degnan

Ellen Degnan, ASB 3244I12V
Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104
(334) 313-0702
ellen.degnan@splcenter.org
/s/ Jess Unger

Bradley Heard*
Sabrina Khan*
Jess Unger*
1101 17th Street NW
Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036
*Motions for admission or pro hac vice bradley.heard@splcenter.org
participation forthcoming. sabrina.khan@splcenter.org
jess.unger@splcenter.org
/s/ Ahmed Soussi

Ahmed Soussi*
201 St. Charles Avenue, Suite 2000
New Orleans, LA 70170
ahmed.soussi@splcenter.org
67

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

ALABAMA COALITION FOR

WES ALLEN, in his official capacity

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

of Alabama; League of Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund; Alabama State

Alabama Secretary of State; Steve Marshall, in his official capacity as Alabama

Boards of Registrars, in their official capacities, and allege the following:

1. The right to vote is fundamental and foundational to American

2. On August 13, 2024, only 84 days before the upcoming November

previously been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of

immediate inactivation of these voters’ registrations. Although Secretary Allen’s

subsequent statements have been ambiguous and contradictory, both Secretary

investigation and potential prosecution. In announcing the Purge Program, Secretary

Allen promised to continue to conduct similar “reviews” of the voter rolls.

3. This lawsuit challenges Secretary Allen’s Purge Program, which by

Alabama voters who are naturalized citizens.

4. The Purge Program, designed by Secretary Allen and implemented by

Secretary Allen, Attorney General Marshall, and Alabama county Boards of

5. The methodology of the Purge Program predictably sweeps in

once issued a noncitizen identification number, prior to becoming a citizen. That is

permanent residents are issued noncitizen identification numbers. But no U.S.-born

removal from the voter rolls.

6. The Purge Program is therefore set up to target and disproportionately

burden naturalized citizens. By singling out anyone ever issued a noncitizen

identification number—a group that Secretary Allen recognized in announcing the

purge program includes naturalized citizens—the Purge Program is deeply flawed

against Alabamians based on their national origin.

have never been issued noncitizen identification numbers, based on faulty

U.S.-born citizens, and has also required these voters to re-register.

8. In implementation, the Purge Program thus arbitrarily sweeps in both

to re-register entirely in order to vote in the 2024 general election and be on

verification. The notice letter sent by county Boards of Registrars at Secretary

rather sends them an Alabama voter registration form—which prominently states

Alabama’s ordinary inactive list.

to Attorney General Marshall for criminal investigation and potential prosecution,

which is not a feature of Alabama’s ordinary inactive list.

12. Secretary Allen implemented the Purge Program as part of a

nationwide, bad-faith effort falsely claiming that noncitizen voting is prevalent in

claims; instead, evidence overwhelmingly shows that noncitizen voting is

noncitizens primarily prevent eligible naturalized citizens from casting ballots.

13. Plaintiffs are individual naturalized and U.S.-born citizens, and

to provide services to Alabama’s immigrant community and whose members include

identification number. Injunction of the Purge Program is necessary to ensure all

unlawful burdens to their right to vote.

14. The Purge Program harms Organizational Plaintiffs Alabama Coalition

for Immigrant Justice, League of Women Voters of Alabama, League of Women

directly because, instead of registering additional new voters and providing

Injunction of the Purge Program is necessary to end these harms to Organizational

elected or appointed officials and citizens of Alabama.

19. Plaintiffs League of Women Voters of Alabama and League of

Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund (collectively LWVAL or the

that seek to encourage informed and active participation in government, work to

members are naturalized citizens.

20. LWVAL is comprised of dues-paying members who volunteer in

Alabama communities to provide voter services. LWVAL has no paid employees or

them to vote, and confirming their registration to be an expression of those core

vote, and can and do actually vote.

necessary because the Purge Program has deregistered thousands of Alabamians,

including—as Secretary Allen has admitted—Alabamians eligible to vote, and has