Although he has been in office for only a few days, Secretary of State Wes Allen has some legislative priorities in mind for the 2023 session.
During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5 on Thursday, Allen said he hoped to pick on two efforts from a year earlier dealing with paper ballots and the connectivity of voting machines.
"There were a couple of bills last year that we ran out of time on, that we didn't get to during the last regular session in 2022," he said. "And two of those, State Senator Clyde Chambliss had. And I think we'll approach again, and we'll get behind. Number one is that we'll always have paper ballots in Alabama. We want to put that in the state statute. It's in the administrative code now, but we want to make sure we strengthen that and want to make sure we always have paper ballots because it is receipts, basically. And you can go back and check if something looks funny. Always have paper ballots - that's important."
"Also, put in the code that machines will never be connected or have the ability to be connected to the internet through Bluetooth or any modems or anything that -- any of the tabulating machines or whatnot that actually take in the ballots," Allen continued. "None of that can be connected or have the capability of being connected to the internet."
"So, those two bills, I think, will receive some top priority of attention," he added.
Jeff Poor is the executive editor of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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