Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen made a visit to the nation’s Capitol, instead of a usual visit to the Alabama Statehouse, last week for a hearing on elections’ administration.

Allen was invited by Sen. Katie Britt and participated in a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing.

Responding to a question from Britt (R-Montgomery), Allen testifiedthe U .S. Citizenship and Immigration Services refused to give the state a list of non-citizens so it could cross-check the voter rolls in Alabama.

“Last year, I introduced the Citizen Ballot Protection Act here in the Senate, and I appreciate all of my Republican colleagues on this committee joining me in that effort,” Britt said. “Congressman Gary Palmer of Alabama introduced the House version of that bill earlier last summer, and it was voted out of [the] House Committee on Administration in November.

“I hope to see both chambers pass this and it become law. The bill is simple. It amends the National Voter Registration Act to allow states to put in place a proof of citizenship requirement for both the federal mail voter registration form and any state mail voter registration form that they might be able to develop.”

Allen agreed with Britt on the importance of verifying citizenship, and said the Biden Administration has hindered attempts by the state to cross-reference voter rolls for non-citizens.

“We don’t have really anything at our disposal to verify citizenship,” said Allen. “Really, when a man or a woman goes in to register to vote and they sign their name, they are attesting that they are telling the truth, that they are a citizen of the country.

“Just recently, back in December, we asked the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for a list of non-citizens so we could cross-check our voter file in Alabama. We were denied that list from the federal government.”

Allen said the state was used to use a verification database program that was inefficient.

“They told us to use the SAVE program, which is the Systematic Alien Verification Entitlement program database,” Allen said. “But the thing is, the SAVE program database does not allow states to verify citizenship through that database. So that’s really all we have. We tried. You know, the federal government, the federal courts, have blocked previous efforts by states to verify citizenship.

“I think it’s important now more than ever, especially given what’s happening at our southern border.”

Allen said Alabama requires photo voter identification to ensure elections are secure, and provides photo identification free-of-charge to any eligible voter who needs one.

“We require photo identification to vote, but we will give anyone that needs a photo identification to vote in Alabama, free of charge, we’ll go to their home,” said Allen. “If they call and request that, we will go to their house to make sure they have a photo identification.”

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