Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he’s received reports from several voting locations where Alabamians who voted in the Aug. 15 Democratic primary were attempting to cast ballots in Tuesday’s GOP runoff. According to Alabama state law, that’s considered voter fraud and is illegal. State residents are prohibited to vote in one party’s primary and later voting in the other party’s runoff election. The process, deemed “crossover voting,” was made illegal earlier this year in an attempt to limit cross-party candidate selection as Alabamians are not required to register to a specific party to vote, but may only vote in one party’s primary.
According to Merrill, any person who votes, or knowingly attempts to vote, or assists another person in voting when they when not entitled to do so shall be guilty upon conviction of a Class C felony, and could face up to a year and a day in prison, which may include a fine not to exceed $15,000.
“When I campaigned for Office I made a promise to the people of this state to ensure that any instance in which someone was reported as having violated the law that they would be investigated, prosecuted, and indicted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Merrill . “We will continue that practice with this election and all reported incidents will be investigated.
Full Article: Merrill says Dems who illegally vote Tuesday could face jail time.