HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – After a flurry of political ads bombarding you on TV, the day for voters to cast their ballots and elect who they want to see in office is quickly approaching.
That hasn’t changed. However the process of getting those results has.
“We have provided each county in the state with a hardened computer that allows them to transmit the data to us and this computer will never have been used for anything other than election night reporting.”
Secretary of State John Merrill says Alabama is spending $247,000 on this technology to ensure transparency between counties that could afford this technology and those that could not.
“The reason the state felt it was important to purchase all of the units was so that there were no excuses from anyone and that we could ensure transparency, accountability, and ensuring that we had integrity in this process. Even though it’s unofficial results, we want people to know that we’re making it easy to vote and harder to cheat in Alabama.”
Speaking of transparency, the Secretary of State’s office announced that a group called the Common Sense America Election Fund is not in compliance with campaign finance laws.
Merrill says the PAC out of Virginia has spent over $500,000 on ads in Alabama that negatively impacts one unnamed candidate in the race for Governor without being in compliance with Alabama’s election laws.
However, Merrill says it’s influence cannot be punished due to a legal loophole.
“There are certain things that cannot be addressed as they are not delineated in the code related to the election from a political action committee perspective that’s a federal election approved PAC.”
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