Birmingham, AL – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement today after Alabama Attorney General’s office announced, on behalf of Secretary of State John Merril, the state would appeal U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon’s ruling relaxing absentee ballot procedures and allowing curbside voting for the July 14 runoff:

 

“Judge Kallon’s ruling, while narrow, would ensure that seniors in Jefferson, Mobile and Lee Counties do not have to risk their lives to make their voices heard at the ballot box. The secretary of state should be working to ensure the safety of all Alabamians as they cast their votes by extending the order to the entire state – not appealing it in court.

 

“Our state has continuously instituted modern-day barrier to the ballot box. From DMV closures that make it more difficult to obtain a voter ID, to the strict requirements surrounding that ID and, now, steps taken to complicate absentee voting, our state stands as an example of just how necessary it is to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to its full strength with the passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate.

 

“My pleas to increase access to the vote may fall on deaf ears in the halls of Alabama’s GOP statehouse, but I must ask our state leaders: What are you so afraid of? Are you supporting suppressive measures because your own political interests are only realized when you limit access to the ballot box?”

 

The lawsuit decided earlier this week seeks to overturn requirements that a notary or two witnesses sign an absentee ballot and suspend a requirement that voters include a photocopy of their personal identification with ballots and to allow curbside voting in Jefferson, Mobile and Lee Counties.

 

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program filed the lawsuit against Gov. Kay Ivey, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and four county election officials.