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Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced Monday that Ohio has become the ninth state to join the Alabama Voter Integrity Database.
A Memorandum of Understanding between Alabama and Ohio, which went into effect last Thursday, allows the state of Alabama to cross-check Ohio’s voter rolls with its own.
“Maintaining the cleanest and most accurate voter file in the country is a top priority of my Office. This MOU provides for the comparison of the Alabama and Ohio voter files to identify individuals registered to vote in both states,” said Allen. “When a potentially ineligible voter is discovered after this comparison occurs, the Secretary of State’s office will begin the voter removal process in accordance with state and federal law.”
The MOU describes the purpose of the two states’ agreement as to “identify duplicate registrations and instances of voting more than once in the same or similar election.”
Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have all signed similar MOUs with Alabama since the database’s founding.
AVID was founded by Allen in 2023, after he withdrew Alabama from the Electronic Registration Information center, a nonprofit that currently assists 24 states and Washington, D.C. in improving the accuracy of their voter rolls.
In the last three years, nine states including Alabama have pulled out of ERIC in moves led by Republican lawmakers.
Allen thanked Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and his team for their help drafting the MOU.
“This MOU will result in a cleaner, more accurate voter file for both Alabamians and Ohioans alike, and that is something we can all be very proud of,” he said.
In recent months, Allen’s office has sent letters to hundreds of thousands of Alabamians the office claims have moved, asking them to update their registration within 90 days or be removed from the state’s voter rolls.
According to Allen’s communications director, Laney Rawls, the Secretary of State’s office has identified 432,964 registered voters they believe have moved to another county or out of the state, utilizing the U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address file and information from Experian Credit Bureau.
The League of Women Voters of Alabama shared an “urgent notice” on its Facebook urging Alabama voters who have received the letter to contact their registrar immediately. The organization also criticized Allen’s office for utilizing Experian data.
“If you have a joint financial instrument (e.g., a credit card) with someone who doesn’t live in your home, your Experian credit report lists all addresses affiliated with that item,” LWVAL wrote. “This is why people think it is crazy for Secretaries of State to use credit agencies to do voter roll maintenance.”
LWVAL President Kathy Jones, who received a letter from Allen’s office asking her to update her information despite no recent changes to her address, told AL.com she felt the state pulling out of ERIC will lead to more Alabamians wrongfully being identified.
“Why would you walk away from something that’s proven?” Jones said. “But they did. That’s why we’re in this situation.”
Allen announced in February he will be seeking the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor. The Republican primary for the position is scheduled for May 26.
