Last week, U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon relaxed absentee voting requirements for Lee, Jefferson and Mobile Counties, and allowed those counties to offer curbside voting for next month’s runoff elections. Soon thereafter, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling by Kallon was part of a suit brought by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Alabama Disability Advocacy Program claiming COVID-19 interfered with the right to vote, thus an easing of voting laws was required.
During this week’s broadcast of Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill noted the concern from these groups about the threat of COVID-19 seemed to be lacking as it pertained to the recent civil unrest around the country.
“Well obviously Don, if it presents a public health risk, I have not seen them out trying to discourage people from rioting or looting or writing graffiti on public buildings, private buildings, causing all kinds of chaos,” Merrill said. “It’s not just in our state but all around the nation. Their time might be better served in another way.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
