Alabama expanding voter fraud probe in Black Belt

The Alabama Secretary of State's office is examining absentee voting irregularities in a couple of Black Belt counties. (file photo)

The Alabama Secretary of State's probe into absentee voting irregularities during the July 17 primary runoff could be expanded to include more Black Belt counties.

Secretary of State John Merrill said that Wilcox and Perry counties, initially named last week in a state investigation into potential absentee voter fraud, may be joined by other counties.

"We started with those two but we're not ending with those two," said Merrill on Thursday.

His comments come after an election that saw some of the state's smallest, and poorest counties experience a surge in voter turnout that nearly doubled or - in the case of tiny Wilcox County -- tripled the state's approximately 14 percent turnout rate.

Both counties are majority black and typically lean Democratic. Merrill said the turnout surge is attributed to a spike in absentee balloting.

In Wilcox County, 4,167 of 9,383 registered voters or 44.4 percent, turned out to vote. The Democratic contest for probate judge drew 4,061 votes, while fewer than 100 voters cast ballots in the high profile, statewide Republican runoffs.

Perry County saw a 36.35 percent turnout during the runoff race, with most of the 2,982 votes cast in a Democratic contest for Circuit Clerk. Only 200 votes were cast in the Republican contests for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Perry and Wilcox counties each have around 10,000 residents.

Other Black Belt counties saw a turnout spike: Dallas County at 34.4 percent, Lowndes County at 25.47 percent, and Macon County at 21.95 percent.

Also notable was Greene County, where 11 people were convicted of absentee voter fraud 20 years ago, saw 34.08 percent turnout.

'Identifying the concern'

In 1998, voters in Greene County turned to black leaders like Martin Luther King III and raised concerns about being "terrorized" by state and federal investigators.

Their concerns stemmed from a federal and state investigation into the heated 1994 election in Greene County. That election saw inordinate amount of absentee ballots flood in, altering a county commission race.

Nearly a dozen conspirators were convicted, and the case has been pointed to by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation as evidence that voter fraud in Alabama is a real concern.

Much like in the 1990s in Greene County, state investigators are claiming they are facing pushback during their initial inquiry into Perry County's turnout spike. Merrill said an election observer was threatened by a Perry County official during the July 17 election.

Merrill said it could take some time before the investigation ends. He said that the district attorneys in both counties have been contacted to assist in furthering the investigation. The Secretary of State's Office does not have prosecutorial authority.

"It may be a while before we get what we need," said Merrill. "The biggest problem we have with a situation like this is not identifying the concern, but having people in the community stand up and say, 'I'll be a witness and speak out in a deposition about what occurred.'"

'Certainly unusual'

Alabama, as the Greene County case illustrates, has a history of voting irregularities especially in its Black Belt region which are among the poorest counties in the country.

Richard Fording, a political science professor at the University of Alabama, said he's heard directly from Perry County community leaders who complain about political corruption. Fording said he's involved in a university program that does service work in Perry County.

"The spike in absentee ballots is certainly unusual," Fording said. "I think Secretary Merrill is doing the right thing to look into this, but I think he must be careful to conduct this investigation in a way that does not serve to intimidate people from voting in the future."

Said Fording: "And I think he must also be sure that he is enforcing the law equally across the state and not focusing on counties that are largely African American. It seems doubtful that it is only the African-American majority counties that have suspicious voting practices."

Josh Douglas, an election law expert at the University of Kentucky, said the initial facts suggest that Merrill has a legitimate concern.

"The facts here certainly suggest that it's reasonable for Merrill to look into it," said Douglas. "Anytime you have a much larger number of absentee votes than in-person votes, when that doesn't track historical patterns, then it's worthwhile to investigate."

Merrill said last week that over 500 people voted absentee in Wilcox County.

Douglas added, "That doesn't mean that there has been voter fraud, but instead that there are sufficient factors to look closer."

'Tool of choice'

Throughout the country, absentee ballots are often cited as an area where abuse can occur. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, for instance, once concluded that the lack of in-person, at-the-polls accountability makes absentee ballots a "tool of choice for those inclined to commit fraud."

Douglas said that absentee ballot fraud prompted court intervention and reversed the outcome of the 1997 mayoral election in Miami.

But as Douglas and other election law experts point out, most voter identification laws approved in recent years are meant to curb in-person voter fraud. And the experts are skeptical whether in-person voter fraud even exists.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, in 2007, investigated the potential of voter fraud and concluded that people were more likely to be struck by lightning than be impersonated by another voter at the polls.

Voter fraud, despite the lack of evidence, became a heated political debate following the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump led the charge by forming a controversial voter fraud commission, which he later dismantled, and claimed that 3 million to 5 million voted illegally during the presidential election. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.

Trump has also pushed for more voter identification laws.

Republicans generally support such laws, and argue that they prevent instances of voter fraud. Democrats, who tend to oppose strict laws, claim that voter fraud is a non-issue but that the laws pushed by conservative lawmakers can disenfranchise minority voters, who are generally less likely to possess the identifications that ID laws require.

Thirty-four states have some sort of law that requires voters to produce some form of identification at the polls. Of those, seven are considered "strict" laws that require a photo ID.

Alabama does require a photo ID, but is not labeled as "strict," according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The state, instead, is labeled as "non-strict" because it has a provision in its law that allows someone without an ID to cast a ballot if two election officials can sign a sworn statement saying they know the voter.

Douglas said that voter ID laws do not go after the absentee abuses that do occur.

"While there's virtually zero evidence that in-person impersonation exists, there's at least some evidence that absentee balloting fraud, while still rare, has occurred occasionally," he said.

'Increase public confidence'

Alabama has attempted to clamp down on absentee balloting fraud, which can exist in many different forms. Merrill claims that the incidents in Wilcox and Perry counties involve some sort of absentee vote brokerage, in which services or cash are exchanged for blank absentee ballots.

In the recently-completed legislative session, one such bill addressing absentee ballot fraud did not advance out of the Alabama State Senate. That bill - SB228 - required someone to provide a copy of their photo ID with their absentee application, removed the posting of absentee voter information at a county's absentee election manager's office, and allowed for commercial mail carriers to be used in returning an absentee ballot.

The bill was carried by state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham. He said the bill was initially written to address early voting, but was later amended at the recommendation of Merrill's office to address absentee voting issues.

Merrill, who said he plans to reintroduce legislation next year, said the biggest issue the bill attempted to stop was posting absentee voter names inside courthouses. He said that vote brokers in some counties can look at the names requesting an absentee ballot, approach them at their mailing addresses, and offer them money, cigarettes, or whiskey for their ballot.

Smitherman said he's supportive of actions that can help nip absentee ballot fraud, but he said no one expressed to him about fraudulent activities that may or may not be occurring in the Black Belt counties.

"You don't want any problems in an election," he said. "If there is something we need to do to make them better, that is what we should do."

Nancy Worley, chairwoman of the Alabama Democratic Party and a former Secretary of State from 2003-2007, said she can recall "one or two letters" sent to her office in years past concerning Black Belt counties and problems with absentee voting irregularities.

But, she said, it's "overblown to talk about fraud" at a time when Trump and other Republican leaders decry fraudulent elections with little proof.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a former Justice Department lawyer under President George W. Bush, said an investigation into counties where absentee voter fraud is occurring can actually help, not suppress, future turnout.

Von Spakovsky, who analyzed the 1994 Greene County case, said public confidence in the voting process increased after convictions were handed out in 1998.

"These kinds of investigations have to be done carefully," he said. "But if they find fraud, it will help turnout because it increases public confidence."

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