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(Alabama News Service) A voting rights group has filed a lawsuit in Alabama to prevent thousands from losing their right to vote.

The Campaign Legal Center said Alabama's House Bill 100 could potentially disenfranchise many voters just before the 2024 general election. The bill aims to expand the list of crimes which result in the loss of voting rights, by adding more than 120 felonies to the existing list. Backers of the bill say it's necessary to protect poll workers.

Blair Bowie, director of the Restore Your Vote program for the Campaign Legal Center, highlighted the effect the bill could have on Alabama voters.

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"People who have been convicted of the crimes that have been recently added to the list, people who have the right to vote now, could actually cast their absentee ballots before the law goes into effect taking away their voting rights," Bowie pointed out.

She noted it raises concerns over whether people could face criminal prosecution for illegal registration or voting if they attempt to cast their ballot. Currently, 40 existing "crimes of moral turpitude" disqualify someone from voting. The list would now include crimes like elder abuse, domestic violence and stalking.

Bowie pointed out the group's main concern is to not allow the measure to deny voters the chance to make their voices heard this November. She explained the Campaign Legal Center's lawsuit argued the law violates the Alabama constitution prohibiting changes to election laws within six months of an election.

"This new additional definition of crimes and moral turpitude is set to go into effect at the beginning of October," Bowie observed. "Clearly within six months of an election, it clearly violates that constitutional provision."

In Alabama if you lose your right to vote, you have to go through the state's process of getting a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. Bowie advises anyone unsure of their voting status to visit restoreyourvote.org.