There are currently three people hoping to be the Republican nominee for state auditor in Alabama. The current incumbent, Jim Zeigler, can’t run because of term limits and has instead decided to run to be Alabama’s next secretary of state.
Tuesday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Alabama State Auditor candidate State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) argued the powers of the auditor’s office should be expanded.
“The main problem with the state auditor’s office in Alabama is that the state auditor no longer audits,” he argued, “and I think that’s a big problem, and the way that our framers of the Alabama Constitution had it set up, they had auditor the fifth-most powerful position in government.”
Sorrell said the office was not as powerful as it used to be and argued that needed to change.
“Well, it’s still fifth in line for the governor,” he explained, “but it’s no longer a very powerful position. In fact, it’s kind of what we think of as the least powerful position, and that’s not right.”
The candidate laid out specific ways the auditor’s office needed to be expanded.
“The Examiners of Public Accounts, the newly created entity, about 50 years a go or so the legislature created it,” he continued, “and this entity reports to the legislature and I think it’s a little bit bloated. The person who runs that department makes more money than the state auditor and the governor combined, and they routinely run behind on their audits. So I think we could be doing better. I think the Examiners of Public Accounts needs to be put back under the state auditor.”
Sorrell also explained how the state auditor played a pivotal role in securing election integrity.
“The auditor is very important for election integrity purposes in Alabama,” he explained, “because the auditor appoints Board of Registrars in 66 out of 67 Alabama counties.”
The state representative reiterated that he believed Alabamians waned a strong state auditor’s office in the Yellowhammer State.
“I think the people of Alabama want a strong state auditor’s office,” he said. “I think they want somebody who’s only accountable to the voters looking over the shoulder of the other government officials making sure that Alabama’s money is being spent properly. You want your auditor who’s independent. You don’t want an auditor appointed by a governor. You don’t want an auditor who reports to any body, any legislative body, you want an independent auditor. That’s the only way you can assure that they’re going to get done right and they’re going to get done for the benefit of the people of Alabama.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
