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Merrill: States delaying election results ‘trying to … cheat’

In a speech delivered Wednesday evening from Union Station, Washington, President Joe Biden warned that numerous states may not be prepared to publish unofficial election results on the night of Nov. 8.

Responding the Biden’s warning during a Thursday morning interview with WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show” was Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, who lamented any potential delay in providing election results to the citizenry.

“There is no reason” why any state or local government should have an issue providing unofficial election results to the constituency on election night, according to Merrill.

Alabama’s chief elections official suggested nefarious motivations were the reason why states such as California were delayed in providing election outcomes by a week during the 2020 presidential election.

“Well it doesn’t make any sense, Dale. As a matter of fact, when you look at it, it’s obvious,” said Merrill. “The reason that people are delayed in getting the results in for public view is because they’re trying to find a way cheat. I mean, it’s very obvious. If they weren’t, you would have the results of the administration of the election available as soon as possible. There’s absolutely no reason for it not to be available.

“When the president gets on TV and starts saying, ‘Well, we may not know for three or four days, maybe even a week or more who won in certain states,’ there’s no excuse for that,” he said. “Absolutely no excuse for that. You need to follow your established state and federal laws, get the administration of the election done within a couple of hours, a few hours immediately after the voting has been completed on Election Day. That’s what people expect, that’s what they should demand.”

When asked if delaying election results could provide an avenue for cheating, Merrill said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.”

“I mean, a reasonable, normal-thinking person is going to look at that process and they’re going to say, ‘OK, if the results are not available soon after the close of polls that night, then obviously some people are trying to find votes to help the candidates that they support, find the necessary numbers to move ahead of the ones they oppose and then have that done,'” he said.

Under Merrill’s leadership, Alabama has consistently provided unofficial vote tallies within hours after polls closed. The Yellowhammer State, according to Merrill, is “the gold standard” of elections administration in the United States.

Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

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