Such violations of voters' rights in Alabama are hardly new. As recently as
October the Alabama SoS was alleging that nearly 700 voters had committed voter fraud, yet that was proven false and attributable to the flawed implementation of their stringent new rules. In 2015 the state of Alabama had to make an agreement with the Department of Justice to settle an issue involving their violation of the National Voter Registration Act because they "
failed to provide voter registration opportunities required by Section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)."
Of course, Alabama has a very long history of voter suppression tactics designed to reduce turnout by creating unnecessary barriers for voting - which disproportionately affect the state's low income and African American communities. This has become a common Republican tactic to ensure continued electoral dominance, not only in Alabama but in numerous states across the country and even at the federal level thanks to Trump's absurd investigation into unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. The purpose of these actions is clear: suppress voter turnout among low-income, African American, and Hispanic demographic groups, which lean heavily Democratic, and rationalize the intentional voter suppression through fabricated and baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud.
