Alabama settles with DOJ after investigation into voter registration

Alabama failed to comply with U.S. law over registering eligible voters at state motor vehicle agencies and has agreed to implement changes following a federal investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday.

The department's civil rights division “found widespread noncompliance” by Alabama with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to provide opportunities for voter registration when people get their driver’s licenses or similar documents, the Justice Department said in a statement. Alabama is “working quickly and cooperatively” to resolve the issue, it said. 

The federal investigation found that applications for Alabama driver’s licenses were not being applied to voter registration for federal elections, as required by the law.

Change of address notifications to motor vehicles authorities also were not being applied to voter registration data, the department said.

"Under the terms of the settlement, Alabama will fully integrate a voter registration opportunity into all applications for driver’s licenses and other identification documents," the department said.

The state will also contact all eligible voters who may have missed the opportunity to register to vote as a result of the problems, the Justice Department said.

Alabama also sparked controversy when it announced plans in August to close 31 mostly part-time Department of Motor Vehicles offices in the state's rural counties, areas largely serving poor and minority communities. Critics accused the state of trying to make it more difficult to register to vote, particularly for black and poor residents.

In the face of the backlash, the state said it would restore services in the rural driver's license offices for at least one day a month.

Wire services