The Republican Secretary of State in Alabama wants to jail up to 674 people who he claims committed voter fraud by switching parties during the September 26th run-off election to replace Jeff Sessions, and the scary part is — he can.
This past May, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) signed a law that would prohibit what is considered to be “crossover voting,” or in other words, it would keep voters from changing their minds and switching their votes in favor of another candidate who might not be a member of their voting party. Pretty convenient, huh?
Because of this handy new law, Secretary Merrill says he plans to send these “guilty” people to prison for 5 years and slap them with a $15,000 fine, which happens to be the maximum sentence for this type of felony.
Merrill stated:
If these people knowingly and willfully voted because they didn’t like the law, they thought the law was wrong, they thought the law was stupid, they didn’t think the law should be enforced, our intentions are to identify those people, fully investigate them, if it’s warranted to have them indicted, to have them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I want every one of them that meets that criteria to be sentenced to five years in the penitentiary and to pay a $15,000 fine for restitution. That’s what I want.”
He added that even though he’s not the prosecutor, these instances of what he calls “voter fraud” should not be allowed an ounce of leniency.
But not everyone is on board with Merrill’s plan.
Randall Marshall, executive director of the Alabama ACLU said he is “stunned” by Merrill’s audacity to demand prosecution:
This is a brand new law. People have been allowed in Alabama to crossover vote prior to this special election.
Instead of putting it on the backs of voters and effectively chilling the right to vote going forward for fear of doing something that gets you put in prison for five years, this is a strong message from the state that we don’t care about your right to vote.”
Even Governor Ivey questions this reaction from Merrill:
That seems mighty strong for going outside the box, but people need to pay attention and vote according to the law for sure.”
But Merrill maintains his position and plans to give counties until Nov. 6 to check the list of names for any errors.
Unless our office receives notification from your county that certain voters should not be on this listing of crossover voters, we will submit the list as-is to the proper authority to begin investigation and possible prosecution.”
If Merrill succeeds and is able to prosecute hundreds of people for alleged “voter fraud” it will only strengthen Trump’s claims that massive voter fraud exists in this country. Because all eyes are on the Alabama Senate race right now — you know Trump is watching and that’s terrifying.
Featured image via Getty/David McNew