Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has discontinued the Vote for Alabama voter registration mobile phone app since assuming office, according to a spokeswoman for his office.
A note on the Alabama Secretary of State's website says, "Please note that the Vote for Alabama Mobile App has been discontinued and is no longer available for use. However, all the functionality that was provided by this app can be found using the resources below."
"The app in question directed users back to our mobile friendly website myinfo.alabamavotes.gov. Since the app was not providing any additional benefit to Alabamians, the commonsense course of action was not spending taxpayer dollars maintaining it," Faith Pierce, a spokeswoman for Allen, said.
Pierce told 1819 News, "To properly maintain the app it was going to cost upward of $12,000 plus an additional annual maintenance fee."
The app was announced in 2016 by former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill to "leverage technology wherever we can to facilitate the voting process."
"That's not even an option for people to register to vote anymore so that's certainly not promoting voter registration," Merrill told 1819 News.
Pierce said photo identification ads produced by the Alabama Secretary of State would continue under Allen.
"The office is in the planning stages right now," Pierce said.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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