The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower court ruling that would have made voting easier and much safer in Alabama during the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally, voters in Alabama must submit an ID when they apply for an absentee ballot and the ballot must be returned with the signature of two witnesses or a notary, according to Reuters.
Last month, a U.S. district court judge in Birmingham, Alabama freed disabled voters and voters over 65 years-old from the ID requirement. Also, voters with a medical condition that puts them at risk of developing severe complications from the coronavirus could sidestep the requirement to have their ballot signed by witnesses. These would apply in three counties — Jefferson, Mobile, and Lee — for the July 14 Senate runoff.
The state’s attorney general asked the supreme court to revert back to pre-COVID requirements and the nation’s high court acquiesed in a 5-4 vote strictly along ideological lines on Thursday night.
Deuel Ross senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc. told CNN in a statement: “Unfortunately, this means that Alabama voters who are at greater risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 will be required to risk their health and violate CDC recommendations in order to vote on July 14.”
Alabama is one of 36 states to record a rise in COVID-19 cases compared to last week. Despite this, the state says their pre-COVID measures are meant to protect against voter fraud and claimed they have taken extraordinary measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, like issuing a state of emergency.
Once again, voter fraud is pretty much nonexistent in the US, and Trump and his people should know this since their own voter fraud commission disbanded in 2018 after finding no evidence of voter fraud.
