Secretary of State Wes Allen Signs Joint Statement on Election Integrity at the RNC

On Wednesday Secretary of State Wes Allen (R), along with five other conservative Secretaries of State, signed a joint statement on election integrity and opposing the federalization of state election processes at the Republican National Convention yesterday.

"I am always proud to stand alongside other conservative election officials to publicly call for strong, common sense election integrity measures," said Secretary Allen. "This statement emphasizes several areas of concern in election integrity and is meant to plainly and boldly declare the election policy positions of myself and my fellow Republican Secretaries of State."

The undersigned Secretaries of State are the Chief Election Officers for their states. All six Secretaries of State are attending the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week in Milwaukee, WI. The Convention provides an opportunity to communicate with officials from throughout the nation regarding the Secretaries' election integrity concerns regarding any attempts to federalize state election processes.

The Secretaries emphasize the following areas of concern in an effort to restore voter confidence in the election process:

• According to the United States Constitution, the responsibility to determine the time, manner, and place of state elections rests with each state's legislature. Registration of voters, the casting of ballots, and the counting of ballots must be in accordance with the laws prescribed by the respective state legislatures.

• President Biden's Executive Order No. 14019 relating to voter registration is a classic example of federal overreach and is clearly unconstitutional. It should be rescinded immediately.

• No votes should ever be accepted or counted that are derived from outside the laws as passed by an official act of each state's legislature.

• Only citizens of the United States should be able to register and vote in state and federal elections.

• Photo voter ID is fundamental to secure elections.

• Drop boxes for election ballots should not be used.

• Voting by mail, absentee voting, ballot harvesting, early voting, curing of ballots, and other means of voting must be specifically authorized by an official act of the state legislature.

• While we focus on voter list maintenance, registrations are constantly changing. Therefore, blanket mailing of ballots to entire registration lists should not be done. Similarly, pre-populating information on, and the mass mailing of, absentee ballot requests should not be done.

• The safest and most secure way to cast a ballot is on Election Day at a polling location managed by trained poll workers from both major parties where every voter is guaranteed an opportunity to cast a ballot free of any undue influence from another person.

• All votes should have a verifiable, auditable paper trail. In the event of any discrepancy, the paper ballots should take precedence.

• Get election information from your Secretary of State or Board of Elections and local election officials and their websites.

Allen and the five other secretaries of state stated that they believe that these are fundamental steps to restoring confidence in our elections.

The statement was signed by: Wes Allen Alabama Secretary of State, Diego Morales Indiana Secretary of State, Michael Watson Mississippi Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen Montana Secretary of State, Mac Warner West Virginia Secretary of State, and Chuck Gray Wyoming Secretary of State.

Wes Allen is Alabama's 54th Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is Alabama's Chief Elections Official. Additionally, Alabama law gives the Secretary of State more than 1,000 different duties. To learn more about the Secretary of State and his responsibilities and duties visit http://www.sos.alabama.gov.

Many Republicans are concerned that a broad loosening of election laws may have compromised the 2020 presidential elections. Democrats have rejected these concerns.