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Secretary of State Wes Allen Implements New Election Security Measure

2025-06-24T13:43:31+0000

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, is announcing the introduction of a security emblem to Alabama ballots in 2026. Alabama is the first state in the nation to work with our Alabama ballot printing vendor to implement the use of security emblems that are invisible to the human eye, and are detectable only with specialized equipment that will be provided to election officials in each county.

“The implementation of this emblem system is taking our state’s election security to the highest level that it has ever been. My team and I have been working on the development and implementation of this level of ballot protection since my first days in office,” stated Allen. “Rolling out these ballot measures by the date of the 2026 election cycle was the goal, and I am honored to say it is a goal we have met.”

The security emblems will be officially in use for the 2026 Primary Election and 2026 Primary Runoff Election absentee ballots. Beginning with the 2026 General Election, all ballots in Alabama will include a security emblem. The placement and design of the emblem will be altered each election cycle to ensure ballot security.

“Protecting Alabama’s elections is of the utmost importance to me,” Allen said. “I am incredibly proud of the work my team and I have done to lead the nation in election security advancements.”

Wes Allen is Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is Alabama’s Chief Elections Official. Additionally, Alabama law gives the Secretary of State more than 1,000 different duties. To learn more about the Secretary of State and his responsibilities and duties visit www.sos.alabama.gov.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Secretary of State Wes Allen Partners with the Department of Homeland Security to Identify and Remove Noncitizens from Alabama’s Voter File

2025-06-18T13:05:35+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS-USCIS) to gain access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, a program that will be used to identify noncitizens registered to vote in our state. This agreement is an additional tool to combat noncitizen voting, and represents Secretary Allen’s commitment to ensuring Alabama elections are decided only by the votes of eligible United States citizens.

“I have been very clear that only United States citizens should be voting in our elections, which is what our Constitution, state and federal law unequivocally demand,” Allen explained. “My Office plans to begin using SAVE to verify the citizenship status of registered voters in Alabama and all incoming voter registrations in the immediate future. Ensuring that only eligible United States citizens are registered to vote in Alabama is a vital step to protecting our elections.”

Secretary Allen thanks his team at the Secretary of State’s Office and President Trump’s DHS-USCIS for their hard work executing this MOA.

“I am thankful that President Trump respects the integrity of our elections and shares my zero-tolerance policy for noncitizen voting. Through the use of SAVE, my Office will have greater access to noncitizen identification data than ever before,” said Allen.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Wes Allen Eliminates $2 Million in Wasteful Spending

2025-06-16T15:19:37+0000

When I was inaugurated as Alabama’s Secretary of State, I promised that I would never forget that I work for the people of this state and not the other way around. I’m focused on the fact that the money that funds this office does not belong to us. It belongs to the taxpayers of Alabama and we should be diligent about the manner in which we spend every dime.

By examining our expenditures through the lens of fiscal responsibility and applying common sense, I am pleased to report the Office of Secretary of State will eliminate over $2 million dollars in taxpayer funds by the end of my term. This may come as a surprise to many people because we have been able to achieve this without diminishing the quality or quantity of services provided to the citizens of Alabama.

• By decreasing the advertising budget for Alabama’s Photo Voter ID program, we will save $1.2 million by the end of my term leaving sufficient resources for the program to accomplish its stated goal of ensuring that Alabama citizens are aware of our state’s voter photo ID requirement.

• In 2024, I pushed for legislation to eliminate an annual business filing requirement that unnecessarily burdened small business owners while charging a fee for this pointless exercise. With the help of State Representative Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile) and State Senator David Sessions (R-Grand Bay) and Governor Ivey’s signature, we eliminated a headache for business owners that will result in an approximate reduction of $690,000 over 3 years.

• By utilizing existing team members to train Alabama’s Boards of Registrars rather than outsourcing that responsibility to an outside vendor, taxpayers will realize savings in excess of $360,000 by January, 2027.

• We also dug deep and identified internet services and equipment that the Office of Secretary of State was subsidizing and were not being used. We cancelled them, saving taxpayers approximately $105,000 over the next 18 months.

• In 2023, I eliminated the Office’s paid internship program which results in a 4-year savings of nearly $79,000.

I came into office with the mindset that every dollar that was spent needed to be examined to ensure three things. First, that the expenditure makes sense. Second, that the expenditure was necessary. Third, that the result of the expenditure could not be achieved in a more efficient and less expensive way. By applying those three standards, my office will eliminate in excess of $2 million in expenditures that did not meet the three-prong test. It turns out that a little common-sense goes a very long way.

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Secretary of State Wes Allen Adds Virginia to Growing List of AVID Partners

2025-06-03T13:22:04+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, welcomes Virginia as the tenth state to join the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) voter file maintenance program. With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, Virginia is the latest state to join the cutting-edge system created by Secretary Allen. Alabama has previously entered into similar agreements with all four of its border states, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Ohio.

“Alabama is extremely pleased to partner with Virginia and work to create cleaner and more accurate voter files for both of our states,” Allen said. “This MOU officially brings Virginia on board with AVID, allowing both states to have cleaner voter rolls, which are the foundation of election security. Through this MOU, I expect to deliver real results for Alabama and Virginia voters alike.”

The state-to-state MOU is a vital component of AVID and allows states to identify and remove individuals who are registered to vote in both states. Last month, Governor Ivey signed legislation requiring AVID be utilized as the state’s primary voter file maintenance system, solidifying Alabama’s continued position as a national frontrunner in election integrity.

“Voter file maintenance is the foundation of election integrity. Ensuring that Alabama’s voter file is the cleanest and most accurate voter file in the country has been a top priority of mine since day one,” Allen said. “Through the AVID MOU process alone, we have initiated the removal of nearly 40,000 ineligible voters.”

Secretary Allen thanked his team in the Secretary of State’s office and the team in the Virginia Department of Elections for their hard work executing this Memorandum of Understanding.

View the MOU here: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/mou-agreements/Final%20Signed%20MOU%20-%20AL%26VA.pdf.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Secretary of State Wes Allen Commends Legislation Codifying His Alabama Voter Integrity Database into Law

2025-05-15T13:12:53+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, commends the final passage of SB142, by Senator Wes Kitchens (R-Arab) and Representative Bryan Brinyark (R-Tuscaloosa). This bipartisan legislation codifies the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID), a program created and implemented by Allen, as Alabama’s primary voter file maintenance system and removes the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) as an approved voter registration database under Alabama law.

“Voter file maintenance is the foundation of election integrity. Because of this important legislation, we can now be assured that Alabama’s voter file maintenance efforts will remain robust in the future,” Allen said. “The passage of SB142 is a victory for each and every Alabamian as they head to the ballot box.”

SB142 codifies AVID and provides for five significant components to make sure only those individuals who should be voting in Alabama elections are registered to vote and voting. An important requirement in the bill authorizes the Secretary of State’s Office to use federal Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data to identify noncitizens registered to vote illegally.

“Only U.S. citizens should be voting in our elections. This is common-sense legislation, and I want to thank Senator Kitchens and Representative Brinyark for their hard work in passing this bill,” stated Allen.

Read the bill here: https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/SB142-enr.pdf.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Wes Allen: “Ban on Foreign National Driver Licenses for Voting a Great Day for Alabama”

2025-05-08T14:45:58+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, applauds the final passage of Senator Will Barfoot’s SB158, legislation that prohibits the use of a foreign national driver license for voting purposes.

“Ensuring that only American citizens are voting in our elections has been a top priority of mine since day one. This legislation helps defeat noncitizen attempts to dilute the vote of legal American citizens and strengthens Alabama’s safeguards against noncitizen voting. It promotes fair, secure, and transparent elections that Alabama voters deserve,” Allen said. “Foreign nationals are prohibited under both federal and Alabama law from registering to vote and voting. Until now, Alabama law did not specifically exclude foreign national driver licenses from being used as a valid photo voter identification.”

“As Secretary, I have strengthened our voter registration policies by requiring a verifiable Alabama driver license number or social security number at the time of registration, making it impossible for a noncitizen to register to vote without committing blatant fraud,” Allen explained. “Now, SB158 will give our local election officials definitive backing to deny someone attempting to vote with a foreign national driver license and eliminate any confusion about what is and is not acceptable.”

“I extend my sincerest gratitude to Senator Barfoot and Representative Treadaway for sponsoring SB158 and for pushing it to the finish line. This legislation codifies an important common-sense election integrity measure that will protect the vote of every Alabamian,” Allen said. “Because of their work, and every member of the Alabama legislature that voted for this bill, Alabama elections will be protected and fortified in the future.”

Read the bill here: https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/SB158-enr.pdf.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Wes Allen Declares Victory in Battle with Liberals: Alabama's Children are Safer

2025-05-02T13:47:06+0000

Secretary of State Wes Allen was notified last night that Alabama has won a historic legal victory in the case of Boe v. Marshall after the plaintiffs dropped their lawsuit challenging the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCAP). VCAP legislation was passed by the Alabama Legislature, which prohibited experimental sex-change procedures and puberty blocking hormones for children.

“When I served in the Alabama House of Representatives, I sponsored the VCAP bill and fought for its passage to protect innocent children from medications and surgeries to change their sex. The legislation was the right thing to do then and it’s the right thing to do now,” Allen said. “Liberal activists intent on targeting children to advance their social agenda challenged the legislation in court and, for three years, have attempted to block the implementation of this important legislation. Today, that battle to protect our children is over. We won.”

Allen, now serving as Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State, consistently maintained that the VCAP legislation would protect children from adults and social pressure convincing them that changing their sex was the solution for gender dysphoria.

“The testimony I heard from people who had been convinced as children to transition and then regretted it as adults was heartbreaking. Mental health therapy, not hormone replacement therapy, is what is needed for children suffering from dysphoria,” Allen explained. “Alabama’s children are safer today because of this legislation. They are safe from the effects of medications and mutilating surgeries and safe from the liberal activists who tried to use them to promote their own agenda.”

Allen referred to the discovery phase of the lawsuit which revealed that key medical organizations intentionally misled parents and promoted experimental treatments for gender dysphoria with little to no scientific evidence to support the radical course of “gender affirming” care they recommended.

“Through discovery, General Marshall was able to find documents that showed that the standard of care was drafted with input from liberal activists. That’s not science,” Allen said.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Ohio Joins Secretary Wes Allen’s AVID Voter Integrity Program

2025-04-14T13:20:29+0000

Secretary of State Wes Allen announced today that Ohio is the latest in a long list of states to join Alabama’s voter integrity database to cross-check the states’ voter files and discover individuals registered to vote in both states. Alabama has previously entered into similar MOUs with all four border states, as well as, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas. Ohio is the ninth state to partner with Alabama as part of the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) voter file maintenance system.

“Maintaining the cleanest and most accurate voter file in the country is a top priority of my Office. This MOU provides for the comparison of the Alabama and Ohio voter files to identify individuals registered to vote in both states,” Allen explained. “When a potentially ineligible voter is discovered after this comparison occurs, the Secretary of State’s office will begin the voter removal process in accordance with state and federal law.”

Secretary Allen thanks Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and his team for their work on this MOU.

“Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and his team have been great partners throughout the process of drafting and executing this MOU. This MOU will result in a cleaner, more accurate voter file for both Alabamians and Ohioans alike, and that is something we can all be very proud of.” Allen said.

Read the MOU here: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/mou-agreements/Final%20Signed%20MOU%20-%20AL%26OH.pdf.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Secretary of State Wes Allen Testifies Before US House of Representatives on Alabama Election Security

2025-04-09T12:00:03+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Elections in a hearing titled, “Revisiting the 2024 Elections with Secretaries of State” yesterday, April 8, 2025.

“Since taking office more than half a million ineligible voters have been removed from our state’s voter file. 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 testified. “Alabama’s 2024 Election Cycle was administered with election integrity as the primary goal and that goal was achieved.”

Secretary Allen also addressed two hurdles the Secretary of State’s Office faced while preparing for the 2024 Election Cycle, both involving lack of cooperation from the federal government under the previous administration.

“First, the immediate removal of deceased voters from our voter file should be common sense. However, obtaining access to the Social Security Administration’s National Master Death Index was absurdly time consuming and overly burdensome. Unnecessary red tape makes it more difficult than it should be. You, as members of Congress, can cut through that red tape and make this important data immediately available to all 50 states,” Allen explained to the subcommittee. “Second, my efforts to gain access to noncitizen data held by the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services, USCIS, were repeatedly denied by the previous administration. Fortunately, President Trump’s EO directing DHS to cooperate with states to eliminate non-citizens from our voter file 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. Granting states immediate access to this data is crucial. Only United Citizens should participate in our elections.”

The full text of Secretary Allen’s testimony may be found here: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/press/Secretary%20Allen's%20Testimony%204.8.25.pdf.

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg

Secretary of State Wes Allen Praises Trump’s Executive Order Cracking Down on Noncitizen Voting and Prioritizing Election Integrity

2025-03-26T13:22:50+0000

Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, stands strongly behind President Trump’s “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” Executive Order, which aims to strengthen election integrity and effectively end noncitizen voting across the country.

“From closing the border, to dismissing the Biden-Harris era USDOJ lawsuit that attempted to block our efforts to remove noncitizens from Alabama’s voter file, to signing this EO, it is obvious that Trump’s Presidency is a true victory for election integrity,” Allen explained. “President Trump and I have the same zero-tolerance policy on noncitizen voting. This EO demonstrates that fact.”

President Trump’s EO adds a government-issued proof of citizenship requirement to federal voter registration forms for the first time. It also requires the Department of Homeland Security to maintain noncitizen data in a way that is beneficial for state voter file maintenance and seeks to crack down on noncitizen voting. The EO further directs the use of a verifiable paper ballot record and conditions federal funding for elections on compliance with robust election integrity measures.

“I am excited to see President Trump direct the Department of Homeland Security to cooperate with states as we attempt to rid state voter files of registered noncitizens. As I testified before the United States Senate, Alabama’s efforts to gain access to federal noncitizen data were blocked by the Biden administration more than once. This EO is a major step in the right direction,” Allen said. “Alabama is already a national frontrunner in election integrity. We have designed and implemented AVID, a powerful and effective voter file maintenance system, require valid photo identification at the polls, only use paper ballots, have tabulators that are not connected to internet, and have banned ballot harvesting.”

Secretary Allen, along with 20 other conservative Secretaries of State, recently signed a letter to the Trump-appointed Secretary of Homeland Security requesting needed improvements to states’ access to noncitizen data be prioritized.

Trump’s EO also revokes the Biden EO 14019, which attempted to federalize an expansion of voter registration policies beyond those established under the NVRA. Allen has been an outspoken opponent of this Biden’s EO and is proud to see President Trump appropriately dismantle this liberal policy.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s attempt to weaponize the entire federal government apparatus into voter registration agencies is officially terminated, thanks to President Trump,” Allen said. “Now, government agencies whose hands were tied by a liberal administration will no longer be forced to implement the radical left scheme to supply noncitizens with a mechanism to register to vote.”

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*Secretary of State Wes Allen’s official photograph: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/AllenBioHighRes.jpg