MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Secretary of State in Alabama has reached out to thousands of residents who were mistakenly marked as “inactive” on the voter registration lists, ensuring them that they are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming elections this November.

These communications were sent following a federal court ruling by U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, which put a stop to the voter “purge program” initiated by Alabama’s Republican Secretary of State, Wes Allen, in August. Initially, Allen promoted this program, which resulted in 3,251 voters being classified as inactive, as a necessary step to eliminate noncitizens from the voter registry in Alabama.

According to a statement released from Allen’s office, the previous announcement about the purge has been overridden by the federal court’s decision. During court hearings, it was disclosed that about two-thirds of those flagged in Allen’s purge were already legally registered voters, raising concerns over the validity of the program.

In response, Allen directed county registrars to notify the reactivated voters that their eligibility has been restored for the upcoming November elections. The correspondence also reassured them that they would not face any criminal charges, despite Allen earlier indicating that he would forward the list of the more than 3,000 inactivated individuals to the Attorney General’s office for possible criminal inquiries.

Court documents revealed that at least 159 individuals from the initial batch of 3,251 who received notifications from the Secretary of State proceeded to fill out forms withdrawing their names from the voter rolls entirely. Consequently, these voters will not automatically be reregistered.

Clay Helms, who serves as Allen’s chief of staff, noted in written testimony that “a few individuals” admitted to being noncitizens who were improperly registered. Meanwhile, others were legitimate voters who, due to ambiguity in instructions from local election officials, mistakenly filled out forms to remove themselves from the rolls.

Those who may have erred in their removals were sent separate communications, informing them that they could re-register before the registration cut-off date of October 21 if the initial removal was a mistake. That registration deadline has since passed, leaving many of these voters with limited options.