Perry County Commission Chairman indicted for voter fraud | News | #elections | #alabama


Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner Jr. has been indicted of felony and misdemeanor counts of voter fraud.

District Attorney Michael Jackson said in a press conference with State Secretary of State John Merrill in Marion Wednesday morning that one of the charges is a felony and one is a misdemeanor.

Jackson, whose office serves Perry, Dallas and Bibb counties, said one indictment charges Turner with “stuffing the ballots into a machine (a tabulator) for the candidates he supports” at the voting place located at the Old Armory” during the May 24, 2022 primary.

The second charge claims that in the November election Turner presented multiple completed absentee ballots for mailing at the post office, an illegal practice known as “ballot harvesting.”

Jackson said the Attorney General’s office received complaints about the ballot harvesting, and witnesses came to his office about the incident in May where Turner is alleged to have stuffed ballots into the tabulator. He added that reports of election irregularities have come out of Perry County “for a long time.”

Jackson said the ongoing investigation will be handled by State Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office. Jackson will leave his office this month because he lost his re-election bid to Robert H. Turner Jr., who is Albert Turner’s cousin. Merrill will leave office at the same time because he finished his second term, and the state constitution does not allow the secretary of state to serve more than two terms.

Jackson and Merrill would not reveal what races might be impacted by the voter fraud investigation. “There could be other people involved, so it would be inappropriate to name those specific races at this point,” Merrill said. He said there have been situations where voter fraud affected the outcome of the race, but he also said there are a lot of variables that have to be considered during the investigation.

Merrill said Alabama has had seven convictions of voter fraud and three elections overturned within the last eight years.

“Since January 19, 2015, we have worked extraordinarily hard to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Alabama,” Merrill said. “While the accused is innocent until proven guilty, it is important to know that this incident, just like the other 1,805 incidents we have investigated over the last eight years, will receive the full attention of this office as we confirm for the people for the State of Alabama that we are the gold standard for election administration in the United States.”

Jackson said, “These are just allegations right now; (Albert Turner Jr.) hasn’t been proven guilty of anything. Right now, he is innocent until proven guilty.”

Merrill praised Jackson for his work protecting the integrity of the election process in his district. “He’s been a good friend to me. He’s been a good friend to the people of his district and to the State of Alabama,” Merrill said.

Jackson said he has “heard the cry from the citizens and the people running for office to clean up the elections in the Black Belt.” He requested that anyone who has any information on either of these indictments, please call the Attorney General’s Office or the Secretary of State’s Office.

If you have any information relating to instances of voter fraud, please contact the elections division at (334) 242-7210.

Turner sent a written comment that said, “I know nothing about any press conference or charge pending against me for voter fraud. I spoke with John a couple of weeks ago about him getting employment from the county in his new job with a Mississippi Engineering Firm. The last time I spoke with Mike Jackson was when he asked for my support for his reelection. I told him then, HELL NO, and I would look forward to his defeat. I am not concerned about any charge he has announced and I will not waste any energy on political theatre. It is mighty funny that Little Mike waited until he was leaving office to make his charge because he knows he can’t prove his case. I hope that the AG hires him and lets him come to Perry County and try the case if there is one. I understand he is hurt because of the beatdown he received and I am glad that I had a hand not only in Perry, but in Hale, Wilcox, and Bibb Counties. I know he is dealing with several personal issues and the thought of him not holding the title of DA is mentally difficult, however, I pray that his mental health gets the attention needed. Because he has gone crazy with this charge.”


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