The ACLU of Northern California is suing Fresno County for what they are calling the illegal removal of a polling place. The removal was a result of the Universalist Church of Fresno refusing to remove a Black Lives Matter banner displayed on their property, according to release by the ACLU.

“At a time when we are facing voter suppression across the country, I’m hoping no other polling place will ever be disqualified for affirming the worth and dignity of black people and other people of color,” said Rev. Tim Kutzmark at the Unitarian Universalist Church, to The Fresno Bee.

Jordan Scott, spokesman for the Fresno County Administrative Office, said there were concerns the sign would dissuade voters from exercising their right.

“The calls received from voters in the area indicated the location may risk discouraging voters from turning up,” Scott said to The Fresno Bee, “so we determined it was best to move the polling place to another location that had been used previously.”

The ACLU had a counterpoint. 

“The records show she took this illegal, retaliatory action, based on one person’s racist complaints,” said Mollie Lee, a senior attorney with the ACLU, in the news release. “Local registrars are at the front lines of democracy and have a critical responsibility in conducting elections fairly. It is important for them to fulfill that responsibility in a way that is not influenced by implicit or explicit bias.”

The sign was originally displayed on three-foot polls after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA, but after multiple counts of vandalization, the display was raised out of the reach to those who would try to deface it.

“The sad part is banners that simply affirmed the worth and dignity of black people made someone uncomfortable," said Kutzmark in an ACLU release. "This statement does not say other lives don’t matter, it says all lives will matter when American society values black lives as much as it values white lives.”

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