Secretary of State’s Office begins legal action to recover unpaid campaign finance fines
The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office is standing up to political action committees and candidate committees who failed to pay their campaign finance fines during the 2018 election cycle. On Thursday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced he is enforcing a 2015-495 in 2015 law that allows his office to issue fines when Principle Campaign Committees (PCCs) or Political Action Committees (PACs) don’t file their monthly, weekly, or daily campaign finance reports on time. The fines are serve as a deterrent to filing elections late and keeping pertinent donor information away from voters. There are 24 unpaid penalties among the nine noncompliant committees listed below: Burton Leflore Diedre Willis Franklin Edwards John Moton, Jr. Richard Dickerson Roderick Clark Terrence Johnson Veronica Johnson William Hobbs According to state law, all funds collected are deposited directly into the state general fund. The Fair Campaign Practices Act does not protect the people of Alabama when campaigns and their committees avoid transparent reporting of the campaign’s financial activity. This law was established to provide the people of Alabama with a concise report of the financial activity of those seeking public office in Alabama.
Alabama Secretary of State’s Office works to recover outstanding campaign finance fines
Intended to reduce the potential for corruption, or even the appearance of corruption, campaign finance laws are a necessary part of modern elections. They’re an important component in creating political transparency. Many voters want to know who’s funding any given candidate as they believe money has the potential to corrupt them and to encourage them to serve their own interests, or the interests of their campaign donors, rather than the public. Which is why the Alabama state legislature passed act 2015-495 in 2015 that allows the Alabama Secretary of State’s office to issue fines when Principle Campaign Committees (PCCs) or Political Action Committees (PACs) don’t file their monthly, weekly, or daily campaign finance reports on time. The fines are serve as a deterrent to filing elections late and keeping pertinent donor information away from voters. The law went into effect with the start of the 2018 Election Cycle, and thus far the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office has issued 1,180 penalties for a total amount of $201,893.28. To date, the office has collected $106,531.92 of those fines, leaving $95,361.36 in the balance. The fines not yet paid have either been waived by the Alabama Ethics Commission or the Office is still attempting to collect the funds from the committee. According to the Secretary of State’s Office: Penalties are issued to any committee that does not file their campaign finance report by midnight on the date the report is due. Generally, reports are due on the second business day of each month. Committees are required to report all contributions and expenditures incurred by their campaign during the previous month. Penalty amounts increase as the number of late reports increase from the committee. Additionally, the first report a committee files late, but within 48 hours of the date the report is due, the committee is issued a warning which does not count against them or require a fine be paid. Further, the Act specifically states that warnings are not violations of the law. Of the penalties that have yet to be paid, 20 Committees have exceeded the statutorily prescribed period to pay the fines, which allows Secretary John Merrill to initiate legal action to recover those funds for the people of the state of Alabama. That process is currently underway. Fines paid by committees are deposited directly into the State of Alabama General Fund.
John Merrill wants more space between polling sites and campaigns
If you’ve ever seen volunteers standing outside of a polling place on Election Day, you’ve witnessed electioneering. Across the country, states have different rules and policies about the practice — that is, any written or verbal communication that could be interpreted as trying to sway a voter’s opinion at the polls — that details just how close volunteers and campaign paraphernalia is allowed to be to a polling place. In Alabama, campaigners need only be 30 feet away from the entrance of the polling place. But Alabama’s chief election officer, Secretary of State John Merrill thinks it’s time for that to change. “We have one of the most liberal laws in the nation at 30 feet,” Merrill said in an interview with AL.com. “We think that needs to be addressed.” But not everyone agrees with Merrill. Democrats don’t consider changes to the the electioneering zone a high priority. “There are more important issues that we should be focusing our attention on to make the process easier and more effective than it already is,” Hunstville-Democrat and Alabama House Minority Leader, State Rep. Anthony Daniels told AL.com. What is engineering Election Day electioneering includes, but is not limited to, activities such as: Asking how voters intend to voters and soliciting their votes for a particular candidate or issue. Distributing, and/or wearing, t-shirts, buttons, signs, bumper stickers newspapers, or flyers. Placing signs, posters, stickers, or other material relating to a particular candidate or issue. Passing out handouts that solicits a vote or recommends a given candidate, slate of candidates, or position on a given issue. Innocent remarks, including comments about facts or opinions about politics are often interpreted as electioneering and are thus not allowed in the polls on Election Day. Electioneering across the country While Merrill calls Alabama’s electioneering laws among the “most liberal in the nation,” there are several states with even more lax policies. Topping the list is Pennsylvania where campaigners are required to be just 10 feet away the entrance of a polling place — by far the most liberal allowance in the country. But most states across the country, 32 of them, require at least 100 feet of distance between electioneering and the polls. But that’s not the case in the South, where five states require 50 feet or less, which puts Alabama in good company — matching neighbor-state’s Mississippi’s requirement and ahead of Missouri’s 25 feet. Meanwhile, just two states over in Louisiana, you’ll find the most stringent of all electioneering laws in the country. The Pelican State requires a whopping 600 feet distance the polls — 300 feet more than any other state.
Secretary of State’s office recovers over $100,000 in campaign finance fines
Alabamians, like most Americans, want transparency when it comes to politics. Part of that means being able to see who’s funding political candidates. Which is exactly why political candidates and Political Action Committees (PACs) are required to file campaign finance reports. But sometimes those reports aren’t filed on time, or at all. Which is why the state legislature passed act 2015-495 in 2015 that allows the Alabama Secretary of State’s office to issue fines when Principle Campaign Committees (PCCs) or Political Action Committees (PACs) don’t file their monthly, weekly, or daily campaign finance reports on time. The act went into effect with the start of the 2018 Election Cycle and since that time Secretary of State John Merrill‘s office has issued 1,166 penalties or warnings for a total amount of $197,657.84. Thus far, $102,249.05 has been paid. The money not yet paid has either been waived by the Alabama Ethics Commission or the office is still waiting to collect the funds from the committee. According to the Secretary of State’s office, “Penalties are issued to any committee that does not file their campaign finance report by midnight on the date the report is due. Most reports are due by 12:00 p.m. on the 2nd of each month. Committees are required to report all contributions and expenditures incurred by their campaign during the previous month.” Accordingly, penalty amounts increase as the number of late reports increases from the candidate. Additionally, the first report a candidate files late, but within 48 hours of the date the report is due, the committee is given a warning that does not count against them or require a fine be paid. Further, the code specifically states that warnings are not violations of the law. In addition to the warning process, committees have the ability to appeal their penalty to the Alabama Ethics Commission. Of the 1,166 penalties and warnings, 166 have been overturned. Fines paid by committees to the Secretary of State’s office is deposited directly into the state general fund.
John Merrill says don’t count write-in votes for Alabama state or federal offices
Alabama voters who are unhappy with the choices at the polls often choose to write-in candidates instead of casting their vote for someone they can’t get behind. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their vote will ever be counted. At least not in a public way that they might otherwise expect. Such is the case in the 2018 midterm elections. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill‘s office on Tuesday announced there were not enough write-in votes cast to merit counting them by name — as they won’t change the final outcome. According to Alabama law, 17-6-28, write-in votes don’t need to be counted unless they may impact results. State law requires the Secretary of State’s Office to review county vote totals and compare those totals to the number of write-in votes cast in each statewide race involving a Federal or State office. Following the completion of that review, the Secretary of State’s Office is tasked with determining whether the total number of write in votes is less than the difference in votes between the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for that office. “Merrill and his team have completed a review of the offices and it has been determined that no county is required by law to count and report write-in votes as there were not enough votes cast,” according to a news release from the Secretary of State’s office. But that doesn’t mean the write-in votes aren’t “counted.” The total number of write-in votes are recorded, but since the number is inconsequential to the outcome of the race, election officials aren’t required to tally specific votes for each individual write-in. “All write in votes are counted and acknowledged and recorded, and documented. They just don’t have to be delineated for the public to see because they did not affect the outcome of the race. All votes counted for those individuals whose names were written in,” Merrill explained on Alabama Today’s Facebook page. Hypothetical scenario To better understand how the write-in vote counting process works, imagine that in a given county there were 100 ballots cast total in one particular race. Suppose Candidate A received 53 votes, Candidate B received 35 votes, and a Candidate 3, a third-party candidate, received 10 votes. That means there were just two write-in votes in the race. Given that two votes would not be enough to change the outcome of the election, the names of those votes would not be recorded. All 100 votes, and their break-down — Candidate A: 53 votes, Candidate B: 35 votes: Candidate C: 10 votes, Write-ins: 2 votes — will be documented. Final vote totals County election officials must still make this determination for any county offices not included in the Secretary of State’s review. Final vote totals as certified by the County Canvassing Board are due to the Secretary of State’s Office by Friday, November 16. *This story has been updated to further clarify the write-in vote counting process.
Two-thirds of Alabama voters cast straight party tickets
Nearly two-thirds of Alabamians voted a straight-ticket — either all Republican or all Democratic— when they went to the polls on Tuesday, a record number that reflects political polarization and likely boosted Republicans in their easy sweep of state races. According to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, about 1.1 million of the 1.7 million ballots cast on Tuesday were straight-ticket votes, where voters checked one box to vote for all of a party’s candidates. Of those straight- ticket votes, 661,898 were for the Republican Party and 460,408 were for Democratic Party. Another 135 were for the Libertarian Party. Secretary of State John Merrill said that is a record high for straight party ticket voting in the state. “This is a very high, high number,” Merrill said. “It tells me that people are becoming more polarized.” Republicans swept all statewide and contested congressional races, holding Democrats to about 40 percent of the vote. Republicans also picked up six seats in the Alabama Legislature. Alabama is one of eight states that allow or offer straight-ticket voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A number of states have abolished the option in recent years. Political scientist Jess Brown said Wednesday that party label and national politics appeared to be increasingly on voters’ minds as they went to the polls. According to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate and nonvoters, more than half of Alabama voters said a reason for their vote was to express support for or opposition to President Donald Trump Thirty-seven percent of voters said a reason for their vote was to express support for Trump, and 21 percent said they voted to express opposition to Trump. By comparison, 42 percent of Alabama voters said Trump was not a factor they considered while casting their votes. Immigration was at the forefront of voters’ minds: 31 percent named it as the most important issue facing the nation in this year’s midterm elections. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Despite bad weather, delays John Merrill says Alabama polls will open as scheduled
While many schools around the state are delaying opening due to severe inclement weather in the forecast Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has taken to social media to announce that the delays will not impact the polls, even if they are at the schools with delays. All polling sites in each one of Alabama’s 67 counties are scheduled to be open in the morning at 7 AM and will remain open until 7 PM tomorrow night as scheduled. There are some polling sites that are currently located in school facilities in certain counties. Some of these counties have a delayed opening for schools tomorrow. The delayed opening of certain schools will not affect the polling site in that location. All polls will open at 7 AM in all jurisdictions tomorrow morning on election day! Across the state, polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. Here’s what you need to know before you head to the polls. For additional voting and election information, visit: alabamavotes.gov. Current list of delays: Albertville City Schools: 2-hour delay Athens Bible Schools: 2-hour delay Athens City Schools: 2-hour delay Athens State University: 2-hour delay Arab City Schools: 2-hour delay Big Cove Christian Academy: 2-hour delay Boaz City Schools: 2-hour delay Calhoun Community College: Will open at 9:30 a.m. Country Day School: 2-hour delay Cullman County Schools: 2-hour delay Cullman City Schools: 2-hour delay DeKalb County Schools: 2-hour delay Drake State: Will open at 9:30 Etowah City Schools: 2-hour delay Grace Lutheran School: 2-hour delay Guntersville City Schools: Closed (originally scheduled to be a half day) Huntsville City Schools: 2-hour delay Jackson County Schools: 2-hour delay Lawrence County Schools: 2-hour delay Limestone County Schools: 2-hour delay Lincoln Academy – 2-hour delay Madison Academy: 2-hour delay Madison City Schools: 2-hour delay Madison County Schools: 2-hour delay Marshall County Schools: 3-hour delay Morgan County Schools: 2-hour delay Northeast Alabama Community College: Will open at 9:30 a.m. Randolph School: Begin at 9:20 a.m. St. John Paul II: 2-hour delay (Classes to begin at 9:50 a.m.) Wallace State Community College: classes will begin at 9:30 a.m. Westminster Christian: 2-hour delay
Pepper Bryars: Officials claiming voter suppression in Alabama are crying wolf
We need words to mean things. The phrase “fake news” has been so widely applied that it’s now essentially meaningless, other than identifying those who would rather dismiss than deal with an argument or evidence challenging their conclusions. The extremely important phrase “voter suppression” is now also tittering on the edge of meaninglessness, thanks in part to the ill-considered efforts of some in the Huntsville area. They’re exaggerating the impact of the routine process that Alabama uses to mail voter I.D. cards and manage its voter lists. Here’s the process. Step one: Register to vote. Step two: Election officials mail you a voter I.D. card, and ask you to verify the information. Step three: Follow the instructions on the card if anything needs to be changed. Easy-peasy. Or not, according to a group that includes Madison County Probate Judge Tommy Ragland, the county’s top voting official. “It’s voter suppression, and it gives our county a black eye,” he told AL.com last week. Suppression? To quote Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Here’s what’s being alleged: A number of students at Alabama A&M and Oakwood University, both in Madison County, used their campus addresses when registering to vote recently. But when the cards were mailed to those addresses, some of the students reportedly didn’t receive them. The post office sent the undeliverable cards back to county election officials, who, quite reasonably, assumed the lack of acceptance meant an individual had moved. When this happens, people are placed on the “inactive” voter list which means they can still vote but must first update their information. Why do this? If the state doesn’t periodically verify its rolls and move unresponsive voters to an inactive list, then the main list would eventually include any registered voter who ever lived in Alabama – alive, dead, or those who moved away. The rolls would become utterly unmanageable. Why didn’t some students receive the card? Maybe because Alabama A&M doesn’t have individual mailboxes for students, just one big general delivery pile. University staff said they emailed students asking them to pick up their cards, but hundreds still haven’t. Not to worry, though. When they show up to vote and learn that they’re on the inactive list, all they have to do is complete a simple form and are then immediately given a ballot, according to Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill. “It’s a simple one-page voter update form,” Merrill said. “It takes less than three-minutes to complete.” Still, Madison County Commissioner Roger Jones thinks that’s “suppressing their right to vote.” “They have just registered to vote and this is the first time they will be able to vote and then have to go through an ordeal when they go vote Tuesday,” Jones told AL.com. Ordeal? Seriously? It’s a one-page form, commissioner, and while waiting in a line is inconvenient, it’s hardly voter suppression. This is hyperbole and nasty politics at their worst because we’re supposed to assume that this is racist since Alabama A&M and Oakwood have predominantly African-American student bodies. Folks, this hurts us all. We need voter suppression to describe exactly what a reasonable person would assume it means: people being denied their right to vote. Voter suppression is a gravely serious charge that should warrant investigation when alleged, and if proven, it must carry swift and stern punishment. But the way the phrase is being thrown around is remarkably reckless, weakens the strength of the allegation, and reduces the credibility of those making the charge. Those crying voter suppression right now should remember why we teach our children Aesop’s fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Because when the wolf really does come around, will any of us heed their cries? ••• Pepper Bryars is the author of American Warfighter. He is a senior fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute. Follow him on Twitter at @jpepperbryars.
Nearly 1 in 10 Alabama voters designated inactive, need to update address to vote
Nearly one in 10 Alabama voters are characterized as inactive and will need to update their addresses in order to vote on Tuesday. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said 301,914 voters are listed as inactive. Merrill said those voters can still cast ballots on Tuesday, but must fill out a form at their polling place to update their address. Most of those voters were declared inactive during voter roll maintenance when the state was unable to reach the person with mailed postcards. States use different methods for required voter roll maintenance. Alabama voters are listed as inactive after a mailed registration card was returned as undeliverable and they didn’t respond to a second forwarded postcard. People can check their voting information at the secretary of state’s website. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
John Merrill issues guidance for straight-party voting
For Alabama voters who wish to cast their ballots for candidates from only one political party, there’s an easy way to do that on Election Day called straight party voting. Straight party voting means you simply fill in one bubble next to you party of choice and then you vote is cast every candidate of that particular party, without having to physically mark every candidate. But Secretary of State John Merrill issued a statement Wednesday to let voters know that if want to generally vote straight party, but perhaps there’s one race where they’d like to support someone outside of their party, there’s still an easy way to do that. “If a voter wishes to vote for any candidate outside the party that they have chosen, they may do so by marking the space next to the candidate’s name,” Merrill explained in a statement. “Regardless of whether the voter cast a straight party vote or not, filling in the bubble next to a candidate’s name will be counted as the voter’s choice in that contest.” State issued IDs Merrill also reminded voters that they may still obtain a free government issued ID from the State of Alabama by visiting their local county board of registrar’s offices, which are open the same hours as the county courthouse in each county. If a voter is unable to visit the registrar’s they can contact the Secretary of State’s Office at 334.242.7200 and request a home visit in which a Secretary of State Staff member will visit them at home to produce a photo ID for voting purposes. The General Election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. The polls will be open statewide from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
29 of 67 counties to electronically sign-in voters for upcoming election; Is yours?
On Nov. 6, Alabama voters in 29 of the state’s 67 counties will be able to sign-in electronically at their respective precincts. These counties will be ditching paper rosters and will check in using an iPad-esque system called KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad. The system, which was first tested in select precincts in 2016, has fully digitized Alabama’s voter rolls. While, the actual act of filling out a ballot and casting a vote will not change, the sign-in process will be speed up significantly making it easier than ever before. John Bennett, Deputy Chief of Staff/Press in the Secretary of State’s office, said Merrill hopes to have the system in all Alabama Counties no later than the 2020 election cycle. “The electronic poll books have been a major success for all of the counties that used them,” Bennett explained. “During the 2016 pilot Mobile County was able to process more than 600 voters an hour using these systems.” He continued, “Using these systems makes that data available instantly where as previously registrars would be required to manually scan each voter’s name to provide credit to the voter for participating in a particular election.” KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad allows voters to swipe their driver’s licenses through a card reader, and it will call up the voting information. Voters also have the option of punching in a few characters of their last names, and their information would be displayed on the iPad. Election officials expect the check-in iPads will cut line times as voters will now have the option of going to the shortest line available, rather than waiting in a specific line based on the first letter of his or her last name. The devices are also expected to leave less room for error in voter data. The following counties will use electronic check-in on Nov. 6: Autauga Baldwin Barbour Blount Chambers Cherokee Chilton Colbert Elmore Franklin Henry Jefferson Lowndes Madison Marengo Marion Montgomery Randolph Shelby Cullman Etowah Houston Jackson Morgan St. Clair Talladega Tallapoosa Tuscaloosa Washington
How to get an absentee ballot in Alabama before the Nov. 1 deadline
If you’re going to be out of town or otherwise unable to go to the polls on Election Day, you still have the ability to cast a vote in the Nov. 6 election — you just need an absentee ballot. Alabamians have until Thursday, Nov. 1 to request an absentee ballot to ensure their voice is heard. But not any excuse for skipping the polls will qualify you for an absentee ballot. According to the Secretary of State’s office, a voter may vote absentee if he or she: WILL BE ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY on election day IS ILL OR HAS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY that prevents a trip to the polling place IS A REGISTERED ALABAMA VOTER LIVING OUTSIDE THE COUNTY, such as a member of the armed forces, a voter employed outside the United States, a college student, or a spouse or child of such a person IS AN APPOINTED ELECTION OFFICER OR POLL WATCHER at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place WORKS A REQUIRED SHIFT, 10-HOURS OR MORE, that coincides with polling hours Voters can make application in person if they prefer and gain access to an absentee ballot that same day. If submitting an application by mail, voters can download and complete the form at alabamavotes.gov. Nov. 5 is the last day for voters are eligible to hand-deliver or postmark an absentee ballot to the Absentee Election Manager’s office in each county. A link to those county offices may be found here.
