Latest Voting rights News

Lawsuit says Alabama voter purge targets naturalized citizens

Sep. 16, 2024 22:20 PM EDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Voting rights groups have filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s secretary of state over a policy they said is illegally targeting naturalized citizens for removal from voting rolls ahead of the November election. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced...

Fight to restore Black voters' strength could dismantle Florida's Fair Districts Amendment

Sep. 12, 2024 15:49 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A coalition of voting rights groups is pointing to a voter-approved amendment to argue Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the state constitution when he dismantled a Black congressional district, but if they lose the case, the Fair Districts Amendment itself...

Judge restores voting rights for 4 tangled in Tennessee gun rights mandate but uncertainty remains

Sep. 12, 2024 11:58 AM EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled that four people can't be denied their voting rights because their specific felony offenses bar them from having a gun, even under a state directive that added gun rights as a prerequisite to casting a ballot again. But the four...

Nebraska's Supreme Court to decide if those with felony convictions can vote in November

Aug. 28, 2024 17:20 PM EDT

Nebraska's top election official has no authority to declare unconstitutional a state law that restores the voting rights of those who’ve been convicted of a felony, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union told the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. ACLU attorney Jane Seu...

Latino voting rights group calls for investigation after Texas authorities search homes

Aug. 26, 2024 15:33 PM EDT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Latino voting rights group called Monday for a federal investigation after its volunteers said Texas authorities raided their homes and seized phones and computers as part of an investigation by the state's Republican attorney general into allegations of voter fraud. ...

Judge limits scope of lawsuit challenging Alabama restrictions on help absentee ballot applications

Aug. 23, 2024 14:32 PM EDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has sided with the state of Alabama in narrowing the scope of a lawsuit challenging a new law that criminalizes some ways of helping other people to apply for an absentee ballot. Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor ruled Wednesday that...

Alabama election officials make voter registration inactive for thousands of potential noncitizens

Aug. 15, 2024 18:06 PM EDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of registered voters in Alabama who have previously been identified as noncitizens by the federal government will have their registration status changed to inactive, the secretary of state announced this week in a move that prompted quick opposition from voter...

Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law restoring right to vote to people with felony convictions

Aug. 07, 2024 18:13 PM EDT

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 2023 state law that restores voting rights for felons once they have completed their prison sentences. The new law was popular with Democrats in the state, including Gov. Tim Walz, who signed it and who is Vice President Kamala...

Lawsuit targets Nebraska's defiance of law to restore voting rights to those with felony convictions

Jul. 29, 2024 14:32 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska has filed a lawsuit challenging top election officials' defiance of state laws that restore the voting rights of those who've ever been convicted of a felony. The ACLU filed the lawsuit Monday on behalf of three...

Federal judge tosses Ohio voting restrictions on voters with disabilities

Jul. 23, 2024 14:31 PM EDT

CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge has struck down part of Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law, which voting rights groups said restricted people from helping voters with disabilities cast absentee ballots. Voting advocates argued that the Republican-backed law went too far by...