The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) sent a letter to Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill today after receiving multiple reports of confusion among poll workers about the proper procedures for processing the votes of people whose registrations are listed as “inactive.” Specifically, there are reports of poll workers telling voters who are listed as inactive that they must cast a provisional ballot. LDF reminded Merrill that this is not the law. His previous guidance on this issue made clear that inactive voters can cast regular ballots so long as they fill
out an updated registration form. Additionally, LDF heard about poll workers rejecting voters who have valid Photo IDs because their addresses on their IDs do not match the addresses on their registrations, which is also consistent with current law. We asked that Merrill immediately reissue guidance on both issues to every election official in the State and ensure that it is publicized and disseminated to poll workers through all available channels. It would violate the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to wrongfully deny one person the vote.
Read LDF’s full letter here.
