Madison County voter incorrectly moved from registration rolls

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The Alabama primary elections are on May 24. Before you go to the polls, here’s the question. Are you registered to vote and cast your ballot for Governor, U.S. Senator, and the other races based on where you live?

Even if you think you are, this story may have you double-checking.

One woman saw a WAFF story from March, about registered voters being purged from the rolls. She was shocked to find out an error was made and her registration was moved.

Her name is Pat Acker. She’s been a registered voter in Madison County since 1970. She’s never moved out of Madison County.

When she saw the WAFF story about checking your voter registration status, she said she couldn’t ignore the feelings she had.

”The more I sat there, something was telling me check it, check it, so I got on the computer, read the article again and thought let me check it, and when I checked, it came up no criteria, to see if I was a registered voter, it said no criteria,” said Acker.

The story she’s referring to is the one we did, shining light to let you know, since 2015, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill purged over 1 million voters from the rolls.

The purge was to eliminate people who moved out of state, died, or were convicted of a felony.

Pat Acker says she’s not in any of those groups, but she got on her computer just to make sure no mistakes were made.

“I had been purged,” said Ackers.

She stayed on her computer and sent several messages to state leaders and re-registered. So what was the mistake?

“Somebody that had the same name as me except for the middle name and somebody’s birthday that was close to mine, and the lady had taken me out, instead of her, because apparently, she had moved,” said Ackers.

With the primary elections fast approaching, you’re encouraged to make sure you’re registered, even if you think you already are.

“If you need to verify your registration, it’s as simple as going to MadisonCountyVotes.com or to AlabamaVotes.gov and you can verify your registration online,” said Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger.

Pat Ackers says she’s glad she found out her status before showing up to the polls. She says it took less than 30 seconds to find out.

Employees with Secretary of State John Merrill’s office say they’re aware of the situation. They tell WAFF there was an error and Acker’s registration was accidentally moved to another county, but the situation has been resolved.

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