72.9 F
Mobile
64.8 F
Huntsville
64.9 F
Birmingham
66 F
Montgomery

Steve Marshall files brief to protect U.S. elections from non-citizens

As the November 5, 2024 general election approaches, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is stepping up on the national stage to defend election integrity. On Friday, he and 24 state attorneys general filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Arizona’s efforts to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in its elections.

In the case of Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, the coalition is urging the Court to allow Arizona to enforce its proof-of-citizenship laws in the upcoming presidential election. They argue that a lower court ruling wrongly forces Arizona to include noncitizens on its voter rolls.

The RNC and members of the Arizona legislature were forced to intervene when it became clear that Arizona’s Attorney General would not defend the law’s enforcement for this election cycle. The emergency applicants have asked the Supreme Court to stay the ruling of the Ninth Circuit.

“Yet again we deal with the impacts of disastrous immigration policies promoted by President Biden and his ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris. Just last week, we were forced to sue to stop them from offering Obamacare to illegal immigrants,” Attorney General Steve Marshall said.

“Now it appears that blue states want to register illegals to vote in the 2024 Presidential election. This case should also serve as a call to action for Congress to pass legislation, like the SAVE Act, to ensure that Americans alone decide who will govern them.”

The amicus brief argues that the National Voter Registration Act permits states to verify that only citizens register to vote in presidential and state elections and that federal law does not preempt state sovereignty over its elections.

RELATED: ‘Alabama knows how to run elections’: AG Marshall on non-citizens being purged from state’s voter rolls

According to Marshall’s office, many states, including Alabama, have adopted laws or regulations that would require voters show proof of citizenship to register to vote. But over the years, federal courts have chipped away at states’ authority to secure their own elections.

“Voting by noncitizens, both legal and illegal, is real,” the brief reads. And “even small voting blocs can have outsized effects on electoral outcomes.” A state’s interest in counting every legal vote must be protected and secured, for this is “the heart of representative government.”

Last week, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that he instructed the Boards of Registrars in all 67 counties to immediately initiate steps to remove all individuals who are not United States citizens from Alabama’s voter rolls.

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270

Don’t miss out!  Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.