The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [official website] Friday that it has reached an agreement with Alabama, under which Alabama has committed to comply with US laws requiring motor vehicle agencies to register eligible voters. More specifically, Alabama has agreed to provide voter registration opportunities in all future online and in-person applications for driver’s licenses and other identification documents. Alabama has also agreed to ensure that any future updates to driver’s license information, such as driver’s address, will be used for updating voter information unless a voter declines to update her voter registration. This agreement is the result of an investigation by the Civil Rights Division [official website] of the DOJ into Alabama’s compliance failure with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). The NVRA has a motor voter provision mandating states to provide voter registration opportunities for federal elections to those who apply for or renew driver’s licenses or other identification documents. The DOJ investigation revealed high rates of noncompliance with the requirements of the NVRA. Among other things, the investigation found that Alabama did not incorporate voter registration opportunities in its applications for driver’s licenses, learner’s licenses and identification cards, and failed to update address for voter registration purposes, upon notification of such address changes to motor vehicle authorities. To correct the past compliance failures, Alabama will contact all eligible voters who are not currently registered to vote at the address associated with their driver’s license or other identification document.

Voting rights have been a contentious issue in the US recently. Last month a North Carolina Superior Court judge refused [JURIST report] to dismiss a case challenging the state’s new voter identification requirement. In May the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a 2012 law requiring voters to be state residents, not just domiciled in the state. In March the US Supreme Court denied certiorari [JURIST report] in Frank v. Walker [docket], allowing Wisconsin’s voter ID law to stand. Wisconsin’s Act 23, which requires residents to present photo ID to vote, was struck down by a federal district court but reinstated [JURIST reports] by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit last year. Also in March Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new law [JURIST report] that made Oregon the first state in the nation to institute automatic voter registration. Last November a federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] a Kansas rule that required prospective voters to show proof-of-citizenship documents before registering using a federal voter registration form. Also last November Illinois voters approved the Illinois Right to Vote Amendment [JURIST report], which bans all voter discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or income.