BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen and Attorney General Steve Marshall are among the names listed in a lawsuit filed by advocacy groups regarding the voter purge program, which is a process to remove non-citizens registered to vote in Alabama.
The Policy Director for Fair Elections Center, one of the four advocacy groups along with four individuals that filed the lawsuit said the program unfairly targets naturalized citizens.
"This type of action is intimidating to naturalized citizens even though they have every right to vote," said Kanter Cohen.
In August, Allen announced that over 3,251 individuals previously given non-citizen identification numbers will have their voter registration status made inactive or flagged.
Allen instructed the Board of Registrars in all of Alabama's 67 counties to immediately remove all individuals who are not U.S. citizens from their rolls.
"Jefferson County was named in the litigation against the Secretary of State. The instructions to the counties from the Secretary of State were to change the status of the voter. No voter has been removed from the voting rolls," said Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars.
Cohen believes that number is likely inaccurate, and it leaves very little time for those individuals to update their status before November 5.
"The process that they're using basically invariably targets naturalized citizens. They're using data from the agency that folks at one time have had an immigration number, but we know that agency records are often out of date." said Cohen.
A spokesperson for Allen said the Alabama Secretary of State's Office has not been served with a lawsuit and, as a rule, the Secretary of State's office does not comment on pending litigation.
Chairman for the Alabama Republican Party, John Wahl, said although he cannot speak to the Voter Purge Program, he believes it's a priority to make sure U.S. citizen votes count.
"I think it's incredibly important that only united states citizens vote in united states elections," said Wahl.
With Allen stating it is possible that some of the 3,251 individuals believed to be at risk of voting may have since received their citizenship, Wahl said it's important to allow those citizens the opportunity to vote.
"If there's anything in this roll out, if there's anything that needs to be correct, if there's anything that needs to be done to make sure that every single citizen is voting we need to see that happening." said Wahl.
Allen says for the individuals who have received their citizenship the Alabama Secretary of State's office will work to give them back their voting eligibility ahead of the November 5 election.