Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, developed and implemented the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) with help from his team at the Secretary of State’s office in September of 2023. Since then, the Alabama-based voter file maintenance system has delivered massive results and put Alabama on the map for innovations in election integrity.

“On my first day as Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State, I kept my promise to the people of Alabama and withdrew us from ERIC. Following our withdrawal from ERIC, my team and I worked hard to build an Alabama-based voter file maintenance system from the ground up and have removed close to 500,000 names from the voter file” Allen said. “When I came into office, Alabama’s voter file was a bloated mess. Today, I am incredibly proud to showcase what happens when you roll up your sleeves and deliver results.”

AVID is a four-pronged system that includes a cooperative agreement with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, use of the USPS National Change of Address File, federal social security death information, and cooperative agreements with other states to cross-check voter files and identify individuals registered to vote in multiple states. Alabama has signed Memorandums of Understanding with all four border states, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky.

Since the official implementation of AVID, Alabama has:

• Verified and put on the path to removal nearly 40,000 voters who moved to surrounding states
• Identified and removed over 5,000 deceased voters using the new Social Security Death file that would have otherwise been missed through using solely state or third-party data
• Placed over 130,000 voters on a path to removal where ALEA data shows they moved out-of-state
• Removed 116,286 voters in the month of February from the most recent NVRA process
• Identified over 700,000 individuals to receive notices this spring to begin the NVRA path to removal
• Determined that nearly 25,000 voters had no driver license or social security number associated with their voter record and requested updated voter registrations from those voters

“Through AVID, we have identified over 1 million voters that were due to be removed from Alabama’s voter file or needed to update their information. This would not have been possible without the hard work and due diligence of our Boards of Registrars or under ERIC. AVID is a prime example of how innovative thinking can produce real results for Alabamians” Allen said. “Because of AVID, Alabama has become a blueprint state in election integrity. It is an honor and a privilege to play this role in making Alabama the national front-runner in voter file maintenance.”

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.