Several advocacy groups on Thursday sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alabama’s 42 District Attorneys, and Alabama Secretary of Stae Wes Allen to block the state’s recently enacted Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which would directly target, restrict, and severely penalize certain engagement measures that would enable broader access to the right to vote.

SB 1, signed into law last month, criminalizes requests or collections of absentee ballots for someone other than close relatives. It also makes it a crime to fill out or mail an application or ballot for someone. The Bill specifically targets Alabamians who pay for assistance in the absentee ballot process, which could result in a felony punishable by up to 20 years.

“Because of its defects, SB 1 will suppress and discourage voter education and assistance that has been long performed by Plaintiffs and other organizations and individuals to promote civic participation and help citizens exercise their constitutional right to vote,” the complaint states.

The suit’s plaintiffs include several civil rights organizations, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Alabama-based advocacy groups. “SB1 is an egregious attack on Alabama’s voters and those working tirelessly to help folks access our democracy,” said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “This law takes us backwards and attacks a fundamental aspect of our sacred freedom of speech – violating the Constitution and hurting Alabamians who rely on nonpartisan, good-government groups to help make their voices heard at the ballot box.”

In asking the court to block the law, the advocacy groups point to the particular harm to Black voters, elderly voters, incarcerated voters, voters with disabilities and low-literacy voters by the law. Additionally, the lawsuit cites the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and the Help America Vote of 2002.