Restoring voting rights

Based on the Alabama Constitution, people who commit crimes of moral turpitude lose their right to vote. Thanks to a new law enacted in 2017, some may be eligible to restore their voting rights.

A new Alabama law signed in May will allow thousands of people to restore their right to vote, and on July 8, LSA and ACLU of Alabama will host a training session at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to train people about this new law, and how Alabamians can comply with its terms to win back their rights.

Approved in 1901, the Alabama Constitution disqualifies from voting any citizen convicted of a “crime involving moral turpitude.” That may at first seem racially neutral, but the document as well as the moral turpitude provision were designed with clear racist intent. The drafters intentionally sought to subvert the 14th and 15th Amendments’ protection against racial discrimination in voting by using the moral turpitude provision, in conjunction with discriminatory criminal justice enforcement, to target Alabama’s Black citizens.

The Court ordered a special master to redraw map to ensure Black voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of choice.