A Cullman-area woman has filed a lawsuit to obtain electronic voting data from the 2020 general election that she claims has been withheld from public scrutiny by the Cullman County probate judge’s office.
The civil suit, filed in Cullman County Circuit Court this week against probate judge Tammy Brown, seeks the release of local Cast Vote Records (CVR) data to the plaintiff, Sheila Haynes, under the Alabama Public Records statute.
The complaint accuses the probate office of failing to deliver the data on a request from Haynes earlier this year, having informed her through the county attorney that the electronic information isn’t retained in the regular course of business and thus isn’t subject to the statute.
The suit claims that the probate office has “refused” to give Haynes access to the data “in a timely manner,” with the legally-required 22-month window for retaining the information after the Nov. 3, 2020 election set to expire on Sept. 3.
“In refusing to timely produce required public records,” the complaint states, “the Defendant asserted that ‘it was not a document kept in the regular course of business.’ That rationale is unfounded because it is not one of the [statute’s] two general exemptions from disclosure: (1) records made confidential or nonpublic by statutes; and (2) records, the disclosure of which would be detrimental to the best interests of the public.”
In a statement to The Times, Brown said Friday that her office had followed guidance from Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill in addressing Haynes’ request. “We accommodated her request to the extent possible by providing her with public election information,” said Brown.
“During the time of her requests, Alabama probate judges, sheriffs, absentee manager and Board of Registrars received information from the Alabama secretary of state notifying each of this specific public record request being made to various county offices throughout the State of Alabama and to only provide per a court order,” the statement continued.
“After further review, Cast Vote Records [CVRs] are not public record and cannot be produced per request without a court order which the probate office never received.”
Haynes told The Times on Friday that she harbors no specific suspicion that voter fraud occurred in Cullman County in the tabulation of 2020 general election ballots. But, she added, she’s less concerned about whether the lawsuit’s outcome could affect future elections in GOP-dominated Cullman County than she is about what she framed as the need for voting data to be made publicly accessible in areas of the state and nation that are more closely contested.
Filing the local suit, said Haynes, demonstrates that concerned citizens can take similar measures to obtain electronic voter data elsewhere — in areas, she said, where the public sharing of their contents could reveal whether errors or fraud had occurred; improprieties that might potentially shape the fate of elections.
“The races I’m most concerned with are the state and federal races,” she said. “I hope it [improper vote tabulation] is not occurring on a local or statewide level…but I don’t want Alabama to be the next Georgia. If we’ve got issues, we need to find it now.”
Though she has an attorney as a spouse, Haynes is representing herself in the suit — a function of her belief, bolstered by other like-minded people who’ve shared and compared research on the 2020 election through social channels — that any concerned citizen ought to be able to view electronic voting data and assess its content for themselves.
“Even though my husband is an attorney, I have filed this lawsuit on my own with very little help from him,” she said in a separate statement provided to The Times. “I want to show the citizens of Alabama that they have the power to do the same thing I have done. Everyone should hold their legislators, probate judge, secretary of state, and sheriff accountable and make them prove what they are telling you…Elections belong to We the People, and we only want truth and transparency in our elections.”
In her statement, Brown defended the integrity of local elections, as well as the staff of employees and volunteers she supervises who carry them out. “Cullman County has the best election workers and probate office staff, and together they are one reason for fair and honest elections in Cullman County,” said Brown. “There are a lot of different agencies and departments that work together to ensure Cullman County elections are of the highest standard — and they are.
“Another factor that ensures fair and honest elections in Cullman County is a check and balance system in place to make sure that every vote that a voter casts counts to the fullest extent. My concern for and to the people in Cullman County is that no negative cloud be placed over the election process for you the voter, or an election worker. I will always fight for every voter to cast his or her ballot, and for it to be private.”
