A group of Alabama civil rights and voting rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit against the state on Thursday to block enforcement of a new law that criminalizes some kinds of voter assistance with absentee ballots.
Last month, Kay Ivey, the Alabama governor, signed into law Senate Bill 1, which she said targets “ballot harvesting”. The law makes it a crime to request or collect an absentee ballot for someone other than close family and to fill out or mail an application or ballot for someone else. It specifically targets those who pay for assistance in the absentee ballot process with a potential felony punishable by up to 20 years.
