The UA College Republicans hosted Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen in Houser Hall Tuesday for a discussion about election logistics and policy.
Allen, a UA alum and former football player for the Crimson Tide, was a probate judge and state representative before being elected Secretary of State in a GOP primary landslide.
As Secretary of State, he has focused primarily on matters of election security, passing legislation strengthening penalties for voter fraud and withdrawing Alabama from the Electronic Registration Information Center within minutes of assuming the office. The program shared voter registration data between states to prevent potential fraud but fell under fire from far-right media outlets.
Allen’s departure from the program left the state without a way of checking voter rolls for months, leading the Alabama director of elections to inquire about getting address-change information from the Postal Service.
At the meeting, Secretary Allen first talked about the success of the 2024 election at a logistical level, thanks to the efforts of local probate judges, circuit clerks and sheriffs. While the office of the Secretary of State plays a role in maintaining voter registries like the new Alabama Voter Integrity Database, it is not responsible for registering voters or operating polling locations.
“Were it not for these three elected leaders in every county, we would not have elections in this state, plain and simple,” Allen said.
At the meeting, Secretary Allen celebrated a number of laws supported by his office that were signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey. Among them were HB230, which got rid of an extra set of forms that businesses had to file with his office, and HB156, which exempts municipal candidates raising less than $1,000 from filing a Fair Campaign Practices Act report. Allen also heralded the passage of SB1, a law that made it a felony for anyone to help fill out or distribute an absentee ballot except the voter themselves.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama opposed SB1 for voter suppression, citing the needs of senior citizens, the disabled and other vulnerable Americans who might need help getting their ballots delivered.
The ACLU, along with the Alabama NAACP, Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and others, filed suit against Secretary Allen and the Alabama Attorney General and won a preliminary injunction barring the law from being enforced against disabled, blind or illiterate voters.
That wasn’t Allen’s first time in court, however. In 2020, he filed a brief supporting a lawsuit trying to overturn Biden’s election victory. Allen was also sued in 2022 by the Department of Justice for racial gerrymandering, a case which he lost in the Supreme Court.
With the UA College Republicans, Secretary Allen also went through some important changes made to the election process during his tenure. One of his biggest points was removing internet connectivity from vote tabulating machines.
“The election process here in Alabama is very strong,” he said. “We can be confident that at the end of [election] night, we’re going to have our ballots counted.”
Club chairman Riley McArdle, a political science major, described the UA College Republicans as a more “big tent” group, not branded by specific issues, in comparison with other conservative student organizations like Young Americans for Freedom and Turning Point USA.
“We want to inform people about the principles of Republican politics, the party itself and we play a role in grassroots [fundraising],” McArdle said.
The College Republicans have hosted other high profile guests like former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The group will also be hosting former Homeland Security secretary and Republican lobbyist Chad Wolf later this year.
Hosting speakers like Allen is part of a larger effort to inform conservatives about the tenants of the GOP in practice, McArdle said.
After his presentation, the Secretary of State fielded questions from students, who asked him about his beliefs with regards to church and state separation and voting rights. Secretary Allen emphasized his Christian faith, while also expressing the necessity of individual freedom of religion.
“I’m not going to check my faith at the door of the State Capitol. That doesn’t mean I can impose my beliefs on anybody,” Allen said.
He also reiterated his position against early, ranked choice and universal mail-in voting as well as his support for citizenship checks for those trying to vote in Alabama. As for next year’s agenda, he predicted a large amount of pushback by Democratic legislators.
“I’m sure that there will be some proposals that pop up that we’ll have to oppose that the Democratic Party will want to put in place to weaken our elections process,” Allen said.
Allen’s tenure has caused marked change in the Alabama election process that earned him praise among Republicans. While the Secretary’s policies have garnered a lot of scrutiny from Democratic politicians and various advocacy groups, he does not plan on slowing down.
“Your leftist tears?” Allen said, pointing to chairman McArdle’s plainly colored thermos. “They taste good.”
