Opinion ID: 4549957
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Giovana Ambrosio

Text: Plaintiff Giovana Ambrosio is a lawfully registered Latino voter, U.S. citizen, and lifelong resident of Franklin County, Alabama. Ms. Ambrosio was a high school senior when she became a plaintiff. She rode the bus to school and stayed after school for extracurricular activities two to five days a week. Ms. Ambrosio was registered to vote prior to the March 1, 2016 primary, but the Secretary maintains that she was not registered in time to vote in that election. Ms. Ambrosio went to the polls for the March 1, 2016 primary, but was not personally acquainted with the election officials at her polling place that day. Ms. Ambrosio did not have an ALEA-issued driver’s license, or any of the photo IDs required to vote pursuant to the voter ID law. For the entirety of 2016, the closest driver’s license-issuing ALEA office to Ms. Ambrosio’s home was only open one day per month, during the hours that Ms. Ambrosio typically spent in classes or in school-sponsored and school-supervised extracurricular activities. The next closest ALEA office to Ms. Ambrosio was in Sheffield, which is an approximately 45-mile roundtrip drive. The Sheffield office is open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays. Ms. Ambrosio does not own a car and, although her parents have access to vehicles, both parents work full time and were unable to drive her to Sheffield during the ALEA office’s normal hours. 28 To 28 At the time of her August 2016 deposition, Ms. Ambrosio did not know how to drive a car. 22 Case: 18-10151 Date Filed: 07/21/2020 Page: 23 of 97 the best of Ms. Ambrosio’s knowledge, there is no public transportation from Franklin County to Sheffield, which is in adjoining Colbert County. However, the board of registrars’ office at the Franklin County courthouse is approximately one mile from Ms. Ambrosio’s home. Ms. Ambrosio also knew about the mobile ID unit. Ms. Ambrosio started classes at Northwest Shoals Community College in fall of 2016. Before classes begin, students register and pay for classes at the cashier’s office. They are told then to go across the hall to the Student Success Center to get their picture taken for their student ID. The college sends new student information to the vendor to print and mail the student ID. If the picture has been taken, it should appear on the student ID. Otherwise, the card will come without a picture on it and a message that reads “needs photo see ID office.” In late August 2016, Ms. Ambrosio had her picture taken for her student ID, but the ID was delayed in arriving, and eventually it arrived without a photo. Shortly before the November 2016 general election, Ms. Ambrosio’s sister drove her to the courthouse to get a voter ID card from the board of registrars’ office; she left with a temporary paper ID, and she received a permanent ID in the mail a few weeks later. Ms. Ambrosio used the temporary ID to vote in the November 2016 general election. Ms. Ambrosio also followed up with Northwest 23 Case: 18-10151 Date Filed: 07/21/2020 Page: 24 of 97 Shoals Community College and obtained a student ID with photo. That ID is an accepted voter ID under Ala. Code § 17-9-30.