Crossover voting

Alabama official warns of crossover voting in Senate election

By DANIEL STRAUSS

Alabama’s secretary of state released a letter Tuesday warning state voters not to vote in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for Senate.

The letter, put out by the office of the secretary, John H. Merrill, comes because of reports from “several voting locations” that “poll workers have been identified assisting or allowing voters that were marked as having cast a ballot for a democratic candidate in the primary on August 15 to vote a Republican ballot.”

Merrill in the letter reminds voters that doing so is a felony.

“Any person who votes or knowingly attempts to vote or assists another person in voting when they were not entitled to do so shall be guilty upon conviction of a Class C felony,” Merrill wrote. “A Class C felony carries a sentence of not less than one year and one day and not more than ten years imprisonment and may include a fine not to exceed $15,000.”

The letter comes just three days after the Alabama Democratic Party released its own statement warning about crossover voting.

“Only voters that voted in the Republican primary on August 15th or that did not vote in the primary at all, will be able to cast a ballot in the Republican runoff on September 26th,” the statement from the party said.