NAACP LDF Expresses Voting Rights Act Concerns in Alabama Voter ID DMV Closure Case

Letter:

 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”)1, on behalf of Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, writes to raise our grave concerns regarding the State’s intended closures of thirty-one (31) driver’s license-issuing offices across the State of Alabama, predominantly in rural counties with large Black populations, high poverty rates, and little to no public transportation. By issuing driver’s licenses, these offices provide the most accessible way for Alabama’s Black residents to secure the most common form of photo identification (“photo ID”) required by state law, Alabama Code Section 17-9-30. By closing these offices, the State will drastically reduce the number of sites where potential voters can obtain photo ID, creating a substantial and disproportionate burden on Black people’s ability to participate in the political process in Alabama.

These planned closures are consistent with Alabama’s long, egregious and ongoing pattern of racial discrimination against Black voters.2 Given the importance of these offices as accessible locations where people can obtain the photo ID needed to vote, we urge you to keep these offices open to protect against the foreseeable negative impact of the closures on Black voters’ opportunity to participate equally in the political process in likely violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”) and the U.S. Constitution.

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