ACLU, voting rights organizations request transparency regarding polling locations

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - General Election Day is coming up and six voting rights advocacy groups are asking for some transparency on polling locations and the closure of polling places.

The co-founder of Lift Our Vote Jessica Barker and other leaders of these advocacy groups asked for this information in a letter to the Secretary of State’s office.

“We realize that there are areas across the state of Alabama that don’t have a centralized listing of polling locations in their area,” Barker said.

The letter claims some counties don’t publish a list of voters and their respective polling locations while others publish inaccurate or contradictory information.

“We know transparency is key,” Barker said. “We want for all of our voters to be able to go to one place and pull any county across the state of Alabama and get the listing of those precincts that are associated with that county.”

Barker says a uniform list would help organizers determine if there are enough precincts in each county for voters to access the polls without going to extreme lengths to do so.

Secretary of State John Merrill says creating that list isn’t required under any statute in Alabama law.

“A uniform list of polling places in the state of Alabama is not required by any statute,” Merrill said. “It is required that that list be published by the local probate judges in all 67 counties and by all 68 judges. That has already been met in each and every instance.”

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