WASHINGTON, D.C.—A bipartisan coalition of current and former election officials and experts filed an amicus brief today urging the Supreme Court to deny Alabama’s request to upend the current election by allowing them to change congressional maps. The coalition warns that Alabama election officials would face unprecedented and extraordinary challenges in administering the election if forced to implement a different map. Such a move will almost certainly lead to widespread confusion, substantial mistakes in voter reassignments and votes of eligible voters not being counted.

The brief identifies a series of concrete administrative barriers the state’s election officials would face trying to adopt the new map. It points to Alabama election officials' own admission that election administrators would need to reassign voters in the impacted districts to different precincts by tomorrow, June 2. That will leave election officials with at most one business day to complete a voter-reassignment process that normally takes three to four months.

The brief also argues that Alabama’s emergency application fails to disclose the practical significance of its requested June 1 ruling deadline. Alabama provided no evidence that the relief it is seeking is operationally feasible, does not reference the relevant deadlines, and provides no explanation of how election officials could complete the voter reassignment process in one business day or what election officials would do if a stay arrived after June 2.

“The record is clear that a stay of the injunction would create major risks of large-scale errors, inaccuracies, or voter disenfranchisement: erroneous ballots provided to voters, votes of eligible voters not being counted, and a logistical nightmare for administrators asked to meet a virtually impossible timeline, while simultaneously managing a June 16 primary runoff, June 17 absentee voting for the Aug. 11 primary election in four congressional districts, and a federal deadline to send ballots to military and overseas absentee voters of June 27,” the brief states.

The filing illustrates how it is virtually impossible to administer the changes necessary to implement a new map through a detailed timeline of the state’s electoral calendar and election processes.

The amicus brief, submitted by Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), Steve Jonas and Joshua Kolb of Democracy Defenders Fund, and the list of amici can be found HERE.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.