SPLC Action Fund: AL House Curbside Voting Ban “A Vindictive Measure with No Discernible Benefit to the Integrity of Our Elections”

Montgomery, Ala. – Today, the Alabama House of Representatives passed HB 285, a bill to enshrine a ban on county election officials establishing curbside voting in their jurisdictions. 

The following statement on the vote today and these issues is by Caren Short, senior staff attorney for the SPLC Action Fund: 

“Today’s vote by the Alabama House of Representatives to formally ban curbside voting in the state places unacceptable barriers before voters with disabilities, older voters, and voters with preexisting conditions. It’s a vindictive measure with no discernible benefit to the integrity of our elections. Voting with a disability in Alabama is profoundly difficult, and we have observed dozens of polling places across the state that are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

“Last year, civil rights groups had to sue the state in federal court on behalf of voting groups and voters with disabilities because of the state’s failure to adapt election processes to a once-in-a-century pandemic.  

“Instead of allowing counties to establish curbside voting to help make the state’s elections safe and bring 21st century convenience to voting here, particularly for those with accessibility issues, Alabama Republican House members learned the exact opposite lessons from last year’s election.  

“Curbside voting isn’t an untested voting option we can't create secure processes for. It’s a practice so commonsense and conservative that our neighbors to the west – Mississippi and Texas – both allow for it.”