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us Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Olfice ofthe Ansett Astorney Genera Wastingron, DAC. 20530 SEP 08 206 The Honorable Luther Strange Attorney General Office of the Attorney General 501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, Alabama 36104 luther.strange@ago.state.al.us Dear Attorney General Strange: This is to notify you that J have authorized a lawsuit against the State of Alabama and appropriate state officiais to enforce Section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), 52 U.S.C. § 20504, Section 5 of the NVRA requires that each Alabama “motor vehicle driver's license application (including any renewal application) submitted to the appropriate State motor vehicle authority under State law shall serve as an application for voter registration with respect to clections for Federal office unless the applicant fails to sign the voter registration application.” 52 U.S.C. § 20504(a}(1). Section 5 also sets out specific requirements for the voter registration, component of a driver’s license application, such as barring duplicate requests for information (other than information such as a second signature) and limiting the information that may be requested. /d, § 20504(c). Section 5 separately requires that a change of address form for motor vehicle driver's license purposes also serve as notification of a change of address for voter registration purposes, absent a written declination by the registrant. Jd. § 20504(d). Finally, Section 5 requires motor vehicle authorities to transmit the completed voter registration portion of a driver’s license application to appropriate election officials by statutory deadlines. § 20504(¢). Our investigation indicates widespread noncompliance with Section 5 in Alabama. ‘Throughout the State, it appears that applications for an Alabama driver’s license or a non-driver Jentification card do not serve as applications for voter registration with respect to elections for Federal office, and that change of address submissions for driver license purposes do not serve as notification of a change of address for voter regisiration purposes. And while it appears the State’s motor vehicle offices may at times provide Alabama’s mail-in voter registration form (NVRA-2) or agency-based voter registration form (NVRA-1B) to applicants who specifically request them, that practice is no substitute for compliance with the requirements of the NVRA. Many of those motor vehicle offices, moreover, will not accept and transmit completed voter registration forms to the appropriate election authorities, These failures violate the NVRA and deprive numerous Alabama citizens of important voter registration opportunities required under federal law. ‘We hope to resolve this matter amicably and avoid protracted litigation, Accordingly, we will delay filing the complaint for a short period to permit us to try to settle this matter via consent decree to be filed with the complaint, Dan Freeman, an attomey with the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, will call your office shortly to determine whether the State wishes to pursue negotiations aimed at settlement. He may be reached at (202) 305-4355. ‘Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, Vanita Gupta, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General cc: The Honorable John H, Merrill Alabama Secretary of State The Honorable Spencer Collict Seoretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

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