Merely a year after requiring photo identification at polling places, Alabama has announced that it will close 31 DMV offices where those IDs can be obtained.
In a state with little to no public transportation, this will require those who can least afford it to take perhaps an entire day off from work and wait on what will certainly be incredibly long lines to get their photo ID.
This is a blatant attempt to suppress the voting rights of minorities. Many of the closures are in Alabama's so-called "Black Belt," and 8 of the 10 counties with the highest non-white populations in the state will lose their offices. This isn't a coincidence; it's a pattern.
The Department of Justice needs to take swift action to investigate this egregious civil rights violation of the citizens of Alabama.