“There is a government, not of men, but of laws – but men are set upon benches to decide finally what the law is and may be.” – H.L. Mencken
“I was elected Secretary of State by the people of Alabama, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections.” – Wes Allen
Here’s a fact that’s nothing new: trust in America’s major institutions continues to decline. But what of Americans’ faith in the upcoming 2024 elections?
“Only 37% of Americans believe the 2024 elections will be both ‘honest and open’ to rightful voters,” an October 2023 report from the Public Affairs Council showed.
The report also revealed an underlying partisan dynamic with Democrats showing more concern about electoral openness and Republicans showing more concern with electoral honesty.
A more recent September 2024 survey by Gallup shows better overall confidence in the outcome of the 2024 elections but also finds “a record-high 56-percentage-point partisan gap, with 84% of Democrats versus 28% of Republicans having faith in the accuracy of the vote.”
The Gallup survey also shows divergent partisan concerns regarding election integrity.
For example, 74% of Republicans and 43% of Independents thought “votes cast by people who, by law, are not eligible to vote” could be a major problem in this year’s election versus only 14% of Democrats.
None of these polling numbers should shock anyone who regularly follows American politics. The recent influx of tens of millions of illegal aliens into the United States has understandably made conservative and independent voters worry about how many non-citizens have been registered to vote in federal elections. The latest polls simply confirm what most politicos already knew.
Any politician worth their salt shouldn’t need polling data to tell them which way the cat is jumping. For instance, I highly doubt Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen needed to consult public opinion polls before taking steps to further ensure electoral honesty in the state. Indeed, when Allen removed over 3,200 potential non-citizen voters in August, I suspect he was simply doing his darndest to keep his promises to the people of Alabama.
Now, the feds, through the weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ), are suing Allen for trying to guarantee election integrity in the state. The feds say he violated the sacred “Quiet Period Provision” of federal law, which prohibits “systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election.”
Maybe they have him on a legal technicality. I don’t know. Such will be for lawyers and courts – that the people do not trust – to decide, as they arbitrate the legal equivalent of missing the forest for the trees. The status quo for voter laws does seem to skew towards openness rather than honesty in elections – i.e. the Democrats’ preferred tipping of the scales – and the DOJ is happy to defend this unbalanced status quo, pretending it is a neutral, independent arbiter. Just another sad case of the mythical rule of law at work.
That said, Allen did try to work with the federal government to ensure the integrity of the vote before going it alone, yet he was rebuffed by unelected federal bureaucrats.
Appearing before a Senate committee In March, Allen was asked about the issue of verifying voter citizenship by Alabama Sen. Katie Britt:
BRITT: [A]s you know, federal law bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections. That being the case, it’s important that states be given the tools that they need to ensure noncitizens are not able to register or vote in our elections.
Last year, I introduced the Citizen Ballot Protection Act here in the Senate, and I appreciate all of my Republican colleagues on this committee joining me in that effort. Congressman Gary Palmer of Alabama introduced the House version of that bill earlier last summer, and it was voted out of [the] House Committee on Administration in November.
I hope to see both chambers pass this and it become law. The bill is simple. It amends the National Voter Registration Act to allow states to put in place a proof of citizenship requirement for both the federal mail voter registration form and any state mail voter registration form that they might be able to develop.
Secretary Allen, in that vein, can you explain what resources secretaries of state have around the country at their disposal to provide their state or local election officials the ability to verify citizenship when individuals attempt to register to vote?
ALLEN: Thank you for the question. The simple answer is we don’t have really anything at our disposal to verify citizenship. Really, when a man or a woman goes in to register to vote and they sign their name, they are attesting that they are telling the truth, that they are a citizen of the country.
Just recently, back in December, we asked the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for a list of non-citizens so we could cross-check our voter file in Alabama. We were denied that list from the federal government.
They told us to use the SAVE program, which is the Systematic Alien Verification Entitlement program database. But the thing is, the SAVE program database does not allow states to verify citizenship through that database. So that’s really all we have. We tried.
You know, the federal government, the federal courts, have blocked previous efforts by states to verify citizenship. I think it’s important now more than ever, especially given what’s happening at our southern border.
BRITT: Are there any other additional barriers that hinder citizenship verification that you can think of? It sounds like they’re significant, as it is.
ALLEN: There are significant challenges to verifying citizenship. You know, we have tried making telephone calls and so forth to federal agencies.
Meanwhile, the Citizen Ballot Protection Act has not become law, the federal government has shown no interest in verifying voters' citizenship, and in the name of election openness, the feds continue to block efforts by the states to address election honesty.
Allen did his constitutional duty and got sued for his trouble, once again showing that in a nation of laws, it is men who ultimately decide what the law is and may be.
What’s not to trust?
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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