PHOTO: Today, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Roy Moore asked Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill to investigate potential voter fraud across the state before the election next Tuesday. (Tyler Pruett, Southern Torch | sos.al.gov)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A short while ago, a statement from Roy Moore Campaign Chairman Bill Armistead alleged voter fraud in Bullock County, Alabama.
The statement made the accusation that Sample Ballots in Bullock County Probate Judge James Tatum's (D - Union Springs) were already marked for Democrat Doug Jones.
If true, this seems to violate Part A, Section 17-6-46 of the Code of Alabama that states, "Judge of Probate shall cause to be printed in large type posters of instructions for the guidance of electors in preparing their ballots. Instructional information shall not show partiality to any political candidate."
According to a statement from the campaign: "On Tuesday afternoon, the Moore Campaign released the following letter addressed to Alabama Secretary of State, John Merrill to bring to his attention potential voter fraud across Alabama ahead of the December 12 election.
Dear Secretary Merrill:
I am deeply disturbed by evidence from Bullock County that official sample ballots for next week’s Special Election for United States Senator have been observed in the Probate Judge’s office that were marked for Democrat candidate Doug Jones.
Dirty tricks like this undermine public faith in the integrity of our elections, and therefore strike a blow at the legitimacy of our elected officials which is foundational to our representative democracy. They also reveal a serious breach of the security protocols that should protect these and other election materials against fraud and other malicious acts.
On behalf of the Judge Roy Moore for U.S. Senate campaign, I write today to urge you to commence a full investigation of this security breach. In the meantime, it is critically important for you to take swift action to deter future bad conduct and reassure the people of Alabama that this upcoming election will be conducted freely, fairly, openly and honestly.
First, please request the Probate Judges across Alabama to inspect the election materials currently in their possession—including but not limited to official sample ballots—for signs of tampering or other mischief. Second, please issue guidance to the election officials in each county on appropriate security protocols leading up to next week’s election.
Finally, please request the election officials to permit one authorized representative of each candidate in the special election to appear and—in the presence of the election officials —inspect the sample ballots, so that we can be assured that what happened in Bullock County was an isolated incident, and not part of a broader plot to steal this election. Representatives of our campaign will bear the enclosed credential, signed by me.
Thank you in advance for acting quickly and decisively to address this issue and uphold public confidence in the integrity of this election.
Sincerely,
Bill Armistead
Chairman,
Judge Roy Moore for U.S. Senate
