Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has received much attention since withdrawing the state from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), with some questioning the decision.
Much of the backlash has come from out-of-state critics who argue the withdrawal from the program will have the opposite of the intended effect by making elections harder to secure. But Allen disagrees. On Tuesday's episode of "Alabama's Morning News with JT," Allen said the state's elections would get along just fine using its own checks and balances.
"The boards of registrars around this state are a huge partner in voter registration and voter integrity because that's where it starts. It starts with voter registration and our voter rolls," Allen said. "We're going to work very closely with our boards of registrars in making sure that they have the training that they need to be successful and to make sure our voter rolls are clean and up to date."
"Another thing is, we can use the United States Postal Service's change of address service," he added. "Another thing we're looking into is the social security debt index. The state has a license for that. So we're going to touch base and partner with our agencies throughout the state government to make sure that our voter rolls are as up-to-date as possible.
"Given what happened coming out of the 2020 presidential election and what [voters] saw, and what I saw and what you saw around the country in these states like, for instance, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin — we want to make sure that never happens in Alabama."
To keep Alabama's current election system secure and efficient, Allen argued the state must only use paper ballots and make sure voting machines have no internet or Bluetooth connection capability. He also said voting should be done in one day rather than accepting mail-in ballots for weeks.
"I believe in election day, not election month," he said.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com.
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