Morgan County Residents Flag Problems in County Voter Rolls

A group of Morgan County residents is raising questions about the accuracy of local voter rolls after conducting its own review of voter registration and election records.

Four residents appeared before the Morgan County Commission on July 28 to present findings they said point to errors and gaps in voter-list maintenance.

Brad Richards, Richard Graham, Tara Richards and Chris Greenstein each addressed Commissioners during the public comment period. The speakers stressed that their work was nonpartisan and said they were not seeking to blame Morgan County's registrars.

Instead, they argued that the problems they found appear to point toward flaws in the system used to maintain voter records.

Richards told commissioners that their research had identified records they believe should be reviewed for compliance with State and federal election law. Among the issues raised were alleged noncitizens appearing in voter records and other entries that the group said warranted more scrutiny.

Graham focused on what he described as strange age data in historic voting records. He cited records that appeared to show votes associated with ages that would be impossible or highly unlikely, including ages of 8 and 15, as well as negative age values.

The speakers did not claim that each odd entry proved an illegal vote had been cast. Rather, they argued that the anomalies show why voter records should be checked and reconciled.

Greenstein raised a separate case involving a person he said had been convicted of a felony and remained listed as an active voter despite still being on probation. Alabama does not bar every person with a felony conviction from voting. State law applies the ban to specified felonies involving moral turpitude, unless voting rights have been restored. The Alabama Secretary of State's voter registration guidance states that a voter must not have been convicted of a disqualifying felony unless his or her rights have been restored.

The claims presented to Commissioners have not been independently proven through a court or law-enforcement investigation. But Alabama law does place clear duties on state and local officials to maintain the voter file.

The Morgan County Board of Registrars is responsible for registering voters and maintaining the county's rolls. Its listed duties include removing deceased voters and people with disqualifying felony convictions, removing voters who have moved out of the County and updating records when voters change addresses.

State law also gives both State and County officials a role. Under Alabama Code §17-4-39, County Boards of Registrars are responsible for updating voter information and conducting regular list maintenance. The Secretary of State is charged with running the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID), which compares voter records against several sources, including driver-license data, interstate voter data, change-of-address records, death records and federal citizenship data.

Questions about noncitizens on Alabama's voter rolls are not theoretical. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that his office had identified 186 noncitizens registered to vote in Alabama through the federal SAVE system. According to Allen's office, voting histories indicated that 25 of the 186 had cast ballots in Alabama elections. Allen directed County Registrars to remove those who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship after being given a chance to respond.

At the Morgan County meeting, Commissioners did not attempt to settle the claims from the dais. Instead, residents were encouraged to take specific cases and supporting records to the District Attorney's office for further review. Commissioners also indicated they would be available to speak with the group after the meeting.

The Morgan County presentation was part of a much broader grassroots effort now underway across Alabama.

Citizen groups in several Counties have been reviewing voter records and taking their findings directly to county officials. A similar group appeared before the Walker County Commission this week. Those residents said their teams were among several operating across Alabama and called for greater local control over voter-roll maintenance.

The Walker County group raised many of the same concerns heard in Morgan County, including records involving deceased voters, people with felony convictions, noncitizens and voters who may no longer live at their registered addresses. The Walker group also said more presentations are expected as citizen teams continue reviewing records in counties around the State.

Certainly, the July 28 Morgan County meeting was not an isolated event.

For the citizens conducting the reviews, the goal is to force a closer look at the rolls before questionable records become election-day problems. For election officials, the challenge is more complex: remove voters who are no longer eligible while making sure lawful voters are not wrongly purged.

The presentations to the Morgan County Commission may be seen on YouTube and below: