Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) has dismissed its Biden-Harris administration lawsuit filed just before the 2024 presidential election to halt Secretary of State Wes Allen’s efforts to keep noncitizens from voting in Alabama elections. Along with USDOJ’s dismissal, came the dismissal of a separate but overlapping lawsuit filed by various organizations and private plaintiffs against Allen.

“I am incredibly pleased to announce that President Trump’s USDOJ has filed to dismiss this case and that the liberal organizations involved have followed suit,” Allen said in a media release. “Dismissal is a true victory for the State of Alabama, the Constitution and election integrity.”

“States are required to maintain accurate voting rolls and remove ineligible voters,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the release. “This Administration supports the efforts of states like Alabama that engage in voting security measures that ensure only citizens are voting in our elections. We are dismissing this case from the prior Administration to permit Alabama the time and space to develop a legal, efficient, and effective process to remove noncitizens from their voting roll and secure the vote for their citizens in upcoming elections.”

Immediately after he was sworn into office, Allen said he initiated efforts to access U.S. Department of Homeland Security noncitizen data to identify noncitizens from Alabama’s voter file. According to Allen, the efforts were repeatedly blocked by the Biden-Harris administration, including the Whitehouse, and Allen said he refused to give up and implemented an Alabama-based solution to identify potential noncitizens who had self-reported their noncitizen status and had registered to vote. 

The USDOJ and other organizations filed suit in federal court to stop the program.

“Noncitizens are rightfully not allowed to vote under state and federal law. When noncitizens vote illegally, lawful votes are diluted,” Allen explained. “Every Alabama citizen’s vote matters. When those votes are at stake, I will always fight, just as I have done since taking my oath of office. Rest assured, I have never stopped and promise to continue protecting Alabama elections from illegal noncitizen voting, including in advance of the 2026 election cycle.”

Allen expressed his thanks to President Trump and his administration for giving proper attention to the border crisis, especially to the resulting issues created for election officials across the country.

“President Trump and I hold the same zero-tolerance position on noncitizen voting. We are truly blessed to have leadership restored in the Whitehouse and at the federal level that will respect, uphold, and defend our country against the liberal ideologies that have plagued America for far too long.” Allen said.

“By ending the Department of Justice’s action against them, Alabama should now have the opportunity to develop a new process to ensure that ineligible voters are removed from its voter rolls, as it is required to do under Section 8 of the NVRA,” the USDOJ explained in a press release.