Shelby County Citizens Raise Concerns Over Voter Rolls
Alleged voter-roll errors could point to a wider problem as citizen review teams take their findings across Alabama
A group of concerned citizens brought questions about the accuracy of Shelby County’s voter rolls before County Commissioners last month, joining a growing grassroots effort examining voter registration records across Alabama.
The citizens addressed the Shelby County Commission during its Aug. 24 meeting. Speakers said their research uncovered voter records they believe show gaps in list maintenance and limits on the ability of local officials and citizens to audit voter data.
Their message was blunt: They believe the current voter registration system is “broken” and want more control and oversight at the County level.
The presentation focused on several types of records the speakers said should be investigated.
Residents cited examples they said included deceased people who remained on voter lists and voters who had moved but were still registered at old addresses. They also raised questions about people convicted of crimes that may bar them from voting, people found mentally incompetent by a court and alleged noncitizens appearing in voter records.
The claims presented at the meeting have not been independently proven through a court or law-enforcement investigation. The speakers argued, however, that the records were serious enough to warrant closer review.
Speakers also complained about the cost and difficulty of obtaining voter-roll data for independent review. They called for greater transparency and better tools for meaningful audits at the local level.
An invited speaker told Commissioners that tools could be made available to help Counties independently examine and clean their voter lists. He urged County officials to consider ways to reclaim more local control over the process.
Alabama law already gives County Boards of Registrars a role in maintaining voter lists. Under Alabama Code §17-4-39, Boards update voter information and may remove voters they determine are improperly registered, subject to State and federal law.
At the State level, Secretary of State Wes Allen has expanded voter-list maintenance through the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID). The system uses several sources to check Alabama voter records, including change-of-address, death and citizenship data.
The Shelby County presentation comes as Alabama officials have found some noncitizens registered to vote.
In January, Allen announced that his office had identified 186 noncitizens registered in Alabama. According to the Secretary of State, voting histories indicated that 25 had cast ballots in Alabama elections.
Allen said each person was given an opportunity to provide proof of U.S. citizenship before County registrars were directed to remove those who failed to do so.
A questionable record, however, does not by itself prove an illegal vote was cast. State and federal laws also require certain procedures before some voter records can be removed.
The Secretary of State’s AVID guidance explains, for example, that some voters identified through change-of-address checks may first be moved to inactive status rather than immediately removed.
The Shelby County presentation was not an isolated event.
Citizen teams elsewhere in Alabama have been conducting their own reviews of voter records and taking their findings directly to County officials.
Residents appeared before the Walker County Commission with many of the same concerns. They cited records involving deceased voters, people with felony convictions, voters who had moved, people found mentally incompetent and alleged noncitizens.
The Walker County group also called for local officials to take greater control over voter-list maintenance and invited independent election experts to discuss possible reforms.
A similar effort took place in Morgan County.
Four residents addressed Commissioners during a July 28 meeting after conducting their own review of election and voter-registration records. These residents raised questions about alleged noncitizens, felony records and unusual data they said appeared in historic voting records.
The Morgan County speakers stressed that unusual records did not, by themselves, prove that illegal votes had been cast. Instead, they argued that the anomalies showed a need for closer review.
Those cautions also apply to the Shelby County presentation.
Still, with citizens now bringing similar findings before officials in Shelby, Morgan and Walker Counties, the effort is becoming broader than a dispute over any one County’s voter rolls.
Ultimately, these citizen groups want assurances, with independent verification, that Alabama’s voter rolls are appropriately maintained.
The full presentation to the Shelby County Commission may be seen on YouTube and below:
