The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its secretary of state, arguing that an effort to remove voters from state rolls was taking place too close to the Nov. 5 general election in violation of federal law.

While states are allowed to clean up their voter registrations ahead of an election, federal law says that must happen more than 90 days before an election.

Alabama’s Secretary of State Wes Allen on Aug. 13 announced a crackdown on what his office called “noncitizen voters,” saying that more than 3,500 people who were registered to vote had been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security. His office did not specify when those voters had received the ID numbers.

The Justice Department said Friday that the voter roll purge announcement in Alabama took place 84 days before the Nov. 5 election and therefore violated the National Voter Registration Act.