Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill on Thursday will testify in a U.S. House of Representatives hearing.
Merrill will appear before Subcommittee on Elections, a subset of the Committee on House Administration, at 12:00 p.m. CST on Thursday.
He will be speaking about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on voting rights and election administration.
“I am proud to share our efforts to protect the 2020 Election Cycle with members of Congress as we work together to protect the right for eligible Americans to participate in the electoral process,” said Merrill in a statement.
The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), invited Merrill to testify.
Merrill made waves last month on the subject of COVID-19 and elections after a testy interview with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar.
The CNN appearance saw Merrill push back against a popular policy position among Democrats: that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic should require states to allow citizens to vote by mail.
President Donald Trump has led the Republican Party to a position of staunch opposition to vote-by-mail initiatives.
Merrill pointed out in the CNN interview that five of Alabama’s six most recent voter fraud convictions involved absentee balloting.
The Alabama Secretary of State has also been more generous with his absentee ballot rules than other Republican officials in his position.
Merrill has determined that any Alabama voter can vote absentee through the mail if they are fearful of contracting the coronavirus in a polling location.
He has repeatedly drawn a distinction between the absentee balloting process, which requires two witnesses or the signature of a notary to be official, and the less restrictive more widespread vote-by-mail options proposed by the Democratic Party.
Merrill is one of two secretaries of state speaking before the Administration Committee on Thursday. His colleague from Lousiana, Kyle Ardoin, will also testify, as will prominent NAACP leader Sherrilyn Ifill and head of the American Postal Workers Union Mark Dimondstein.
Merrill’s testimony will be streamed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntIbU7uEHxo
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
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