There were 140 confirmed crossover votes in the Sept. 26 Republican runoff for the U.S. Senate, and none will be investigated further for possible prosecution, Secretary of State John Merrill announced in a press release today. Last month, Merrill’s office had compiled a preliminary list of 674 crossover votes in 41 counties and sent them to probate offices for verification. Of those, 534 turned out to be mistakes by a poll worker, another election worker or the voter, Merrill said. Merrill said he called the probate judges from the 20 counties with 140 confirmed crossover votes. “After these reviews and the conversations were completed, there were no instances in which a local Probate Judge deemed it necessary to pursue additional investigations that could potentially lead to prosecution,” Merrill said. “Without new information being introduced in this review, this matter is now considered closed.”
The Alabama Legislature passed a ban on crossover voting this year and it was in effect for the first time in the Republican runoff in the special election for the U.S. Senate between Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange.
… Last month, Merrill had said he wanted those who intentionally violated the new law to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including prison time and a hefty fine.
Asked today what changed, Merrill said: “It was not recommended that additional investigation be conducted. And prosecution was not recommended by any probate judge. And if they’re the ones that are doing the investigating, and they say there’s no evidence, I’m not trying to refer a case with no evidence.”
Full Article: Crossover votes: 140 confirmed; no further investigation | AL.com.