MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ordered the lawsuit filed by Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama NAACP and individual plaintiffs against the State of Alabama be dismissed.
In the lawsuit Plaintiffs challenged Alabama’s Photo Voter Identification Law, House Bill 19 of 2011, requires absentee and in-person voters to show photo identification in order to cast a regular. The Plaintiffs alleged the law was racially discriminatory and that it violated the Voting Rights Act and the United States Constitution.
Throughout the case, Secretary of State John Merrill denied allegations and contended the law was passed for valid and non-discriminatory purposes.
“Today’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit is without a doubt the right decision,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Alabama’s voter identification law is one of the broadest in the nation with procedures in place to allow anyone who does not have a photo ID to obtain one. The court order makes this point exceedingly clear: ‘…a person who does not have a photo ID today is not prevented from voting if he or she can easily get one, and it is so easy to get a photo ID in Alabama, no one is prevented from voting.”
He also said, “I am proud of the hard work of my Constitutional Defense attorneys who spent the last 15 months traveling this state interviewing dozens of witnesses including local election officials and private citizens who have fought voter fraud. Each of these individuals who volunteered their time to assist the State in gathering the facts deserves special recognition and our gratitude.”
