Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen is highlighting the arrest and indictment of Terry Heflin, a Democrat running for District 5 of the Clay County Commission for felony absentee ballot fraud, as an opportunity to say the state is dead serious about election security.
“I have been traveling this state and talking about absentee ballot application fraud and absentee ballot election fraud for years,” Allen said. “I have been clear from day one that I take election fraud seriously, and I was not kidding. When my office was made aware of what was happening in Clay County, we immediately referred the case to Attorney General Marshall for criminal prosecution.”
Press Release: Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen Says Indictments Send Message to Election Criminals: “We are Serious about Election Integrity”
Read more here: https://t.co/BYxzQAG5Yw pic.twitter.com/8fOEsAiKXK
— Wes Allen Alabama Secretary of State (@alasecofstate) July 31, 2024
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the arrest of Heflin Wednesday. The candidate is being charged with 7 counts of unlawful use of absentee ballots because he allegedly falsified applications to vote absentee for multiple people and then used those people’s names to vote for himself by absentee ballot.
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Allen said this is a good lesson to potential criminals in the Yellowhammer State.
“Let this case of felony voter fraud be a signal to all those contemplating breaking Alabama election law that it will not be tolerated in this state,” he argued. “We will find you and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Secretary of State also said that his office will continue to keep an eye out for those trying to abuse the system.
“Alabama law provides strong protections for our elections and imposes penalties on those who violate the law,” Allen continued. “We will continue to refer cases of election fraud to the Attorney General for criminal prosecution.”
“All parties involved did an excellent job preparing and securing a felony election fraud indictment,” Allen added. “Because of the work of our team at the Secretary of State’s office, Attorney General Marshall’s team, and the local law enforcement in Clay County, Alabama elections are safer and more secure.”
Heflin turned himself in to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and is currently being held at the Clay County jail. Each count of unlawful use of an absentee ballot is a Class C felony punishable by 1 year and 1 day to 10 years in prison.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
