Civil Rights Groups Sue Alabama Over 'Discriminatory' Voter ID Law

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (TheBlaze/AP) -- A civil rights group has filed a lawsuit against the state of Alabama, claiming that its law requiring voters to have photo identification will prevent thousands from casting ballots.

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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Greater Birmingham Ministries filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday.

The lawsuit cites state estimates that at least 280,000 people will be disenfranchised because of the law.

"It is no accident that a disproportionate number of those disfranchised voters are African-American and Latino," the lawsuit states, according to Advance Digital Media. "Indeed, the photo ID law is simply the latest chapter in Alabama's long and brutal history of intentional racial discrimination."

"For five decades, Alabama's use of discriminatory voting schemes has necessitated repeated federal intervention. Now, Alabama again seeks to disfranchise thousands of African-American and Latino voters—all in the name of "curing" a voter fraud problem that does not exist," it adds.

The state attorney general's office had no immediate comment.

A requirement that went into effect last year requires voters to show valid, state-issued photo identification at polling places. The state's Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law in 2011, saying it was meant to prevent fraud.