WASHINGTON — Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen touted his office’s efforts to remove ineligible voters from the state’s list during a congressional hearing on 2024 elections.
Appearing before the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Elections, Allen emphasized his commitment to updating Alabama’s voter file. He testified that the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, which works in conjunction with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the USPS National Change of Address File, social security death information, and agreements with other states helped his office remove “more than half a million ineligible voters” in the state since he took office in 2023.
“Our voter file, which was a bloated mess on the day I took office, is now the most accurate record of eligible voters our state has ever had,” Allen said.
Using AVID, the secretary of state’s office claims it is in the process of removing nearly 40,000 voters who have been identified as having moved to surrounding states. The office also said it removed more than 5,000 dead voters from the state’s voter file, according to a February press release.
Allen announced Monday that Ohio joined the AVID program, making it the ninth state to be a part of it.
During the hearing, Allen said he faced two hurdles in updating the state’s voter registration list: getting access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Index and gaining access to noncitizen data under the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Allen said he had trouble accessing the USCIS under the Biden administration but said under the Trump administration, he expects the information “will allow batch comparisons of DHS noncitizen data to our state-level voter files, allowing for the immediate removal of those who are illegally registered to vote.”
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, is the subcommittee’s top Democrat. During the hearing, Sewell advocated for addressing issues such as adequate election funding and securing the safety of election workers and voters.
“We as elected officials should be looking for ways to expand access to the ballot box, not to curb it,” Sewell said.
Sewell called out voter purges, including Alabama’s efforts to remove ineligible voters before the 2024 election. A federal judge ordered Alabama to reverse the purge of more than 3,000 voters deemed inactive last year, arguing the removal occurred too close to the election. Sewell asked Allen how he will ensure the state’s continuing initiative to remove voters only targets those who are ineligible.
“Our staff is working extremely hard to make sure the voter file maintenance is top of mind each and everyday when we come into the office and we will continue to make sure that only United States citizens are on Alabama voter files,” Allen said.
Sewell asked Allen how much it cost to defend his office’s efforts in court and Allen said he did not know the amount.
“While I totally understand the importance of making sure that every person who is on the voter roll is eligible, I think that there are better ways to do that than voter purging,” Sewell said.
Sewell also discussed Alabama Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in 2024. It makes it a Class B felony to pay another person for assistance with an absentee ballot application and a Class C felony to receive payment. A federal court halted part of that law for the 2024 elections as it pertained to disabled voters.
“Several of my constituents called me in fear of voting absentee because they were afraid of it being rejected for simple reasons, like, not being able to provide the ballot themselves, but actually having a family member deliver it,” Sewell said.
Allen said that the legislation “protected the absentee process.”
Allen is running for lieutenant governor in 2026.