ACLU challenges Ala. voter law barring felons
Lawyer Blogs
After serving eight months behind bars for a conviction of receiving stolen property, Annette McWashington Pruitt was excited about the prospect of being able to vote again.
One of her first stops after being released from prison was the Jefferson County Voter Registrar's Office. But she was told she was a convicted felon and couldn't vote.
"I couldn't believe it," Pruitt said. "They continued to give me numbers to call. It was very much demeaning."
Now she has gone to court to try to get her right to vote restored.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Montgomery Circuit Court on behalf of Pruitt and two other ex-felons seeking restoration of their voting rights. The lawsuit claims Alabama law is unclear on the subject, citing a bill passed by the Legislature in 2003 that says felons can vote unless convicted on "crimes of moral turpitude," but never defines those crimes.
The Legislature adopted a list of 15 crimes, including murder, treason and some sex crimes, that would exempt a person from having their voting rights restored. But the lawsuit says it's up to the state's voter registrars and the attorney general to decide in other cases if a person's rights can be restored.
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