Harris v. State of Alabama

Alabama resident Angelique Harris attempted to register to vote over the course of several years but was unlawfully denied by her county registrars due to a failure of state law to clarify how out-of-state and federal felony convictions are to be treated for determining voting eligibility. The Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies represent Harris in appealing her unlawful denial of voter registration, which prevented her from voting in 2020.

The appeal documents describe how the Alabama secretary of state failed to provide training for county registrars to combat such errors and discrimination. A 2017 Alabama law clarifying what convictions qualify as a “crime of moral turpitude” and disqualify a person from voting only addressed state crimes. As result, county registrars with no legal training to determine who can vote – but routinely consider voter registration applications – have denied registration to many Alabama residents with out-of-state or federal convictions.