According to State Rep. Wes Allen (R-Troy), the freshman lawmaker is the only individual in the four-candidate Alabama Secretary of State GOP primary field that holds a record of working to implement election security measures.
The South Alabama legislator is forgoing an additional term as state representative in an effort to become Alabama’s chief elections official, a position that will become vacant due to a constitutional term limit levied upon current Secretary of State John Merrill.
In making his closing pitch to Republican voters, Allen, a former Pike County probate judge, asserted that his legislative record set him apart from the other three candidates seeking the Republican nomination.
Allen pointed to his legislation, which was signed into law in May 2021 by Gov. Kay Ivey, that banned curbside voting. Additionally, the lawmaker touched on his successful effort to ban so-called “Zuckerbucks,” from Alabama’s elections administration process.
“Election security is the #1 issue of concern that I have heard from voters as I have travelled the state for the past year,” said Allen in a statement to Yellowhammer News. “I am the only candidate seeking the Republican nomination that has ever cast a vote to strengthen our election security measures in Alabama. I sponsored and passed legislation to permanently ban curbside voting and to ban private funding like Zuckerbucks in our elections. No other candidate can say that.”
Allen went on to cite his opposition to an effort during the 2021 regular legislative session which would have allowed no-excuse absentee voting.
“I voted to oppose no-excuse absentee voting and ultimately killed that terrible legislation,” he continued. “No other candidate running to be Alabama’s next Secretary of State can say that. I am the only one who has actually been fighting the battle to strengthen, not weaken our elections laws. I believe that everyone running wants election security but I am the only one who has a record of doing something about it and not just talking about it.”
Allen will face conservative activist Chris Horn, State Auditor Jim Zeigler, and former Alabama elections administrator Ed Packard in the May 24, 2022, GOP primary election. Should no candidate earn a plurality of all votes cast, a runoff election will be held June 21, 2022.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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