http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/alabama-dmv-closures-voting-rights/index.html
DOT launches investigation in Alabama over DMV closures
By Rene Marsh, CNN Aviation and Government Regulation Correspondent
Updated 11:54 AM ET, Wed December 9, 2015
Story highlights
- The U.S. Department of Transportation has just launched an investigation into Alabama
- The case revolves around the closing of Department of Motor Vehicle offices and whether that discriminates against African-Americans
Washington (CNN)The U.S. Department of Transportation has just launched an investigation into whether Alabama is discriminating against African-American residents after announcing plans to shut down or reduce service at 34 state drivers license offices.
Voting rights advocates say the move will disenfranchise lower income, African-American voters in rural communities who wish to vote.
In 2014, Alabama passed a law requiring valid photo ID in order to vote at the polls.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says his agency is specifically looking into whether the closures violate the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin on programs and activities receiving federal assistance.
"Driver license offices offer essential services to the American people, including providing thousands in Alabama with a method of identification. It is critical that these services be free of discrimination, and serve the people of the state fairly and equally," Foxx said.
On September 30, Alabama announced the closure and reduction in services at 34 drivers licensing offices throughout the state. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has said an $11 million cut in the budget forced the closing of the DMV offices at which residents can obtain or renew their licenses. The state expects some of the needs of those who would have used such offices to be met online.
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President George W. Bush signs reauthorization of the act on July 27, 2006. From left, Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, look on.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President Barack Obama marches with civil right veterans during a commemoration march in 2007.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – A conservative judge called the Voting Rights Act a racial entitlement but supporters of the act say it is the crowning victory of the civil rights movement. Pictured, people gather for a post-march rally after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the "Bloody Sunday" anniversary, March 4, 2012.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Executive Director Barbara Arnwine speaks during a news conference to voice opposition to state photo ID voter laws with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2011.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – A supporter of the Voting Rights Act rallies in the South Carolina State House in Columbia on February 26, 2013, the day before oral hearings at the Supreme Court.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – The Rev. Jesse Jackson, at the microphone, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, left, deliver remarks during a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on February 27, 2013, as the court prepared to hear oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, the legal challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Supporters of the Voting Rights Act listen to speakers discussing the rulings outside the U.S. Supreme Court building on Tuesday, June 25, 2013.
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – The Voting Rights Act is often called the crown jewel of the civil rights movement, yet many Americans do not know why or how it was passed. Pictured, NAACP Field Director Charles White speaks on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, after the court limited use of a major part of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, in effect invalidating a key enforcement provision. Here are some key moments and characters in the voting rights saga.
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Three young civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 in Mississippi while trying to register black voters. The infamous murders showed that segregationists were willing to kill to keep African-Americans from voting.
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – John Lewis, a young activist who later became a congressman of Georgia, heads to a fateful encounter on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama during a 1965 march. Lewis was brutally assaulted by state troopers during the "Bloody Sunday" march that made voting rights a national issue.
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Marchers during the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama gather for a rally on March 26, 1965, a few weeks after "Bloody Sunday." Black residents were beaten, fired from their jobs and imprisoned trying to vote.
Hide Caption
4 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife, was murdered while participating in the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. Her death outraged the nation and helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President Lyndon Johnson, pictured here discussing the act with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965, went on national television to call for passage of the Voting Rights Act. He ended his speech by saying, "And we shall overcome."
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Rep. John Lewis speaks after bipartisan House and Senate officials met to voice support for reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act for an additional 25 years on May 2, 2006. From left, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other officials listen during the media conference.
Hide Caption
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14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President George W. Bush signs reauthorization of the act on July 27, 2006. From left, Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, look on.
Hide Caption
8 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President Barack Obama marches with civil right veterans during a commemoration march in 2007.
Hide Caption
9 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – A conservative judge called the Voting Rights Act a racial entitlement but supporters of the act say it is the crowning victory of the civil rights movement. Pictured, people gather for a post-march rally after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the "Bloody Sunday" anniversary, March 4, 2012.
Hide Caption
10 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Executive Director Barbara Arnwine speaks during a news conference to voice opposition to state photo ID voter laws with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2011.
Hide Caption
11 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – A supporter of the Voting Rights Act rallies in the South Carolina State House in Columbia on February 26, 2013, the day before oral hearings at the Supreme Court.
Hide Caption
12 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – The Rev. Jesse Jackson, at the microphone, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, left, deliver remarks during a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on February 27, 2013, as the court prepared to hear oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, the legal challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Hide Caption
13 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Supporters of the Voting Rights Act listen to speakers discussing the rulings outside the U.S. Supreme Court building on Tuesday, June 25, 2013.
Hide Caption
14 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – The Voting Rights Act is often called the crown jewel of the civil rights movement, yet many Americans do not know why or how it was passed. Pictured, NAACP Field Director Charles White speaks on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, after the court limited use of a major part of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, in effect invalidating a key enforcement provision. Here are some key moments and characters in the voting rights saga.
Hide Caption
1 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Three young civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 in Mississippi while trying to register black voters. The infamous murders showed that segregationists were willing to kill to keep African-Americans from voting.
Hide Caption
2 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – John Lewis, a young activist who later became a congressman of Georgia, heads to a fateful encounter on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama during a 1965 march. Lewis was brutally assaulted by state troopers during the "Bloody Sunday" march that made voting rights a national issue.
Hide Caption
3 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Marchers during the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama gather for a rally on March 26, 1965, a few weeks after "Bloody Sunday." Black residents were beaten, fired from their jobs and imprisoned trying to vote.
Hide Caption
4 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife, was murdered while participating in the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. Her death outraged the nation and helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Hide Caption
5 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – President Lyndon Johnson, pictured here discussing the act with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965, went on national television to call for passage of the Voting Rights Act. He ended his speech by saying, "And we shall overcome."
Hide Caption
6 of 14
14 photos: Photos: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act – Rep. John Lewis speaks after bipartisan House and Senate officials met to voice support for reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act for an additional 25 years on May 2, 2006. From left, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other officials listen during the media conference.
Hide Caption
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"It is our obligation to ensure that recipients of federal funding are in compliance with federal laws that guarantee equal access and opportunity for all," said Stephanie Jones, the U.S. Department of Transportation's civil rights acting director.
"Our concern rests in the possibility that the state's closure of driver license offices disproportionately constrains the ability of some residents to secure driving privileges, register personal and commercial vehicles, and obtain proper identification a critical requirement for access to essential activities such as opening a bank account and voting," she said.
The agency will be requesting all documents and information that explains why these specific 34 DMV locations were picked for closure or reduced service "and why not others," Foxx said.
DOT says it has not reached any conclusions but if it finds these closures are discriminatory, the agency will first allow the state to come into compliance by making those services available once again. If Alabama does not comply, the Department of Transportation says it could strip the state of millions of dollars in federal funding that's used towards DMV programs.
Questioned whether stripping the state of federal funding would only further negatively impact the communities DOT is trying to protect Foxx said the agency is still gathering information "I don't want to presuppose the outcome at this point, we need to go and get the facts but I think that the recourse we have is fairly effective we've seen it work in previous cases. Hopefully we won't get there but if we do we will be very aggressive."
In October, Rep. Terri Sewell, the only African-American in the state's congressional delegation, asked the Department of Justice to launch an investigation.
The state of Alabama declined to comment on the investigation.
It's unclear when the DOT will complete its investigation or whether it will be done before the November 2016 election, though Foxx said the agency is working to get it done as soon as possible.
