Voting assistance covered by First Amendment, say plaintiffs in absentee ballot case

People enter a voting precinct to vote in the Michigan primary election at Trombly School Aug. 7, 2018 in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Attorneys for the plaintiffs challenging an Alabama law restricting absentee voter assistance argued in a Monday filing that they were likely to succeed because the assistance is covered under the First Amendment.

The Monday filing was in response to the state’s arguments that a preliminary injunction against the law should not be granted.

In the 31-page filing, attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote that they are “substantially likely” to succeed on the merits of their speech and association claims. They wrote that assistance is covered under the First Amendment and that the state’s testimonies were not convincing. They said that the bill would fail under First Amendment scrutiny.

A message was left with representatives for some of the plaintiffs, including the ACLU of Alabama. A message was also left for the Attorney General’s office.

The Alabama Legislature this spring passed a law that criminalized some forms of absentee ballot application assistance. Civil rights groups, including the ACLU of Alabama, filed a lawsuit in April, saying the law amounts to voter suppression.

The state argued in its response that absentee ballot application assistance did not amount to speech.

In their filing on Monday, plaintiffs argued the new law is “unconstitutionally vague” and “unconstitutionally overbroad.”

“Defendants’ arguments only underscore SB 1’s fatal deficiencies: in both their motion to dismiss and opposition brief here,” the filing said. “Defendants can only attempt to explain the scope and meaning of SB 1 by inferring words and meaning that do not exist anywhere in the statute or conjuring their own definitions from thin air.”

The lawyers wrote they are likely to succeed on a claim over Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act Section 208. According to the Department of Justice website, the section deals with voters who need assistance due to blindness, disability or an inability to read or write and allows them to be assisted by someone of their choice, with some exceptions such as an employer. They wrote that the section deals with assistance for “blind, disabled, and low-literacy voters,” as well as their claim under Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

They also wrote that plaintiffs will suffer harm without relief, the balance of equities and public interest require a preliminary injunction and is necessary for “complete relief” under Article III.

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