MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said Friday that he has questions he wants answered before turning over Alabama voter data to President Donald Trump’s commission investigating alleged voter fraud.
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity this week asked secretaries of state to provide voter data, such as birthdays, partial Social Security numbers, felony convictions and military status. Merrill, a Republican, said he had questions about the security, but declined to name the other concerns.
“We still have a number of questions we have to get answered,” Merrill told The Associated Press.
Merrill said Friday that he agreed voter fraud is a relevant issue and wanted to be supportive. He said the information sought by the committee is already publicly available. Alabama law allows people to purchase voter-roll data. The files are also provided to the state’s major political parties.
“The secretary of state’s office will comply with the request if we are convinced that the overall effort will produce the necessary results to accomplish the commission’s stated goal without compromising the integrity of the voter rolls and the elections process in Alabama,” Merrill said in a statement.
Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that millions of people illegally voted against him in the November election.
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