Wes Allen
Alabama Secretary of State to pay for GIS service for 51 counties
The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that it will provide geographic information system (GIS) services to all Alabama counties. The office said the service could be used for districting voters and election administration. There are 16 counties that already use GIS. The rest of the counties were authorized to implement […]
Critics express concerns about new Alabama voter registration database
Election experts continue to express doubts about the viability of the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) that Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen established in September. Adam Ambrogi, chief of external affairs at the League of Women Voters of the United States, expressed doubts about the viability of the program at a virtual forum held […]
Alabama is creating its own voter database. Experts aren’t sure that’s wise.
When Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen unveiled the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) on Sept. 18, he fulfilled a campaign promise to voters to replace the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) he withdrew from nine months earlier. But several critics question the wisdom of pulling out of ERIC, a service that was shown to […]
Hammering Alabama elections in search of a nail
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen doesn’t want to make voting easier. He’s always been clear on that. Take an interview Alabama’s elections chief did a few weeks ago. Allen said he opposed automatic voter registration (AVR), a program where a qualified voter gets registered when they do something like renew a driver’s license. “Registering […]
Federal court selects new Alabama congressional map
A federal court Thursday ordered Alabama to implement a new congressional map drawn by a court-appointed special master that creates a majority-Black district and a near-majority Black district. In a 49-page opinion issued on Thursday morning, U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. district judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer wrote that the plan, known […]
Alabama Secretary of State, reapportionment chairs oppose maps drawn by special master
Alabama’s secretary of state and the chairs of the Alabama Legislature’s reapportionment committees filed objections to new congressional map proposals with a federal court on Thursday. The objections from Secretary of State Wes Allen; Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile and Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, used nearly identical language, criticizing the three proposed maps from a special […]
Alabama Attorney General’s Office says state is not defying redistricting court order
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office told the U.S. Supreme Court that letting a third party draw new maps would harm the state, and insisted that Alabama was not defying federal court orders. In a 32-page response to plaintiffs urging the court to let a lower court ruling go into effect, attorneys wrote that they followed […]
Milligan plaintiffs: Alabama defying federal redistricting orders
Attorneys for plaintiffs challenging Alabama’s congressional maps Tuesday accused the state of defying federal court orders to draw a second opportunity district for Black voters. In a 51-page brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorneys asked the justices to reject a request from the state to stay a special master from drawing new […]
Alabama Secretary of State unveils new voter roll management system after ERIC withdrawal
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen Monday said the state would launch its own database of registered voters after withdrawing from a national one earlier this year. Allen unveiled the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) to manage the state’s registered voter rolls, completing a goal to replace the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) system that […]
Alabama voter registration climbs, but turnout lags rest of nation
This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org. While Alabama has enjoyed record numbers in terms of people registering to vote, voter rights groups point to […]
Federal court won’t delay Alabama redistricting order; state appeals to U.S. Supreme Court
A three-judge panel Monday declined Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen’s request to delay their order for a special master to draw new congressional maps for the state. In a 26-page opinion, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Court judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer wrote that they saw “no basis” to […]
GOP-led states plan new voter data systems to replace one they rejected. Good luck with that
So far this year, seven states, all Republican-led, have left the Electronic Registration Information Center, an interstate compact for sharing voter registration data, and more could follow. Amid the exodus, some states, including Texas and Virginia, have said they plan to create their own data-sharing networks to replace ERIC. Pledging to build a new system […]