Alabama Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner Jr. was indicted for election fraud for his alleged involvement in the 2022 Democratic primary and general election controversy.
Recently, the Alabama secretary of state’s office released an official statement, revealing that Turner was accused of allegedly casting multiple votes in the Democratic primary last May.
He also revealed that the accused allegedly inserted multiple finished ballots into a tabulation machine.
In the press release, Turner was charged for ballot harvesting in relation to the general election. However, the accused denied the charges filed against him.
Amid the controversy, Outgoing Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill released a joint statement with District Attorney Michael Jackson, claiming that he refused to comment on the issue.
“It is not appropriate at this time to comment because a lot of variables that factor into that decision and these matters are currently under investigation,” Merrill said, adding that he would also not reveal which contests might have been affected.
“There could be other people involved, so it would be inappropriate to name those specific races at this point,” he added.
In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, Fourth Judicial Circuit district attorney, Jackson claimed that Turner “was stuffing the machine with the ballots that he had already filled out for the folks he was supporting. He did that for a good little while, and he had some folks distracting the poll watchers.”
“He was there most of the day stuffing filled-out ballots in favor of the candidates he was supporting. Witnesses came forward, and we felt we had enough to present to a Perry County grand jury.” Jackson claimed, adding that the news release that he has “heard the cry from the citizens and the people running for office to clean up the elections.”
“It deters people from running if you know your opponent is going to have a million absentee ballots. It also deters people from voting – what do they always say? ‘My vote doesn’t count, doesn’t matter.’’’Jackson added.
This month, Jackson is expected to leave office after he lost his re-election to Robert H. Turner Jr.
“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,” Turner said.
