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MONTGOMERY– Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is leading a 13-state letter in support of a proposed U.S. Postal Service rule on mail-in and absentee ballots.
The proposed rule would apply to ballots mailed in federal elections.
Marshall filed the comment letter last week. Attorneys general from 12 other states joined Alabama.
The rule would create standard envelope designs for mailed ballots. It would also help states track ballots with unique barcodes.
The Attorney General’s Office says the changes would help states monitor ballots after voters place them in the mail.
Marshall said states lead election regulation. He said the federal government can help protect ballots after they enter the postal system.
“States are the leaders in regulating elections, and yet despite our best efforts to enact policies to deter and detect fraud, voter fraud continues to be a problem,” Marshall said.
Marshall said Alabama runs its elections well. He also said officials have documented absentee ballot fraud in Alabama during the past year.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the rule would create a nationwide audit process for mail-in voting.
The Alabama-led letter says states control ballots until voters mail them. After that point, the letter says, officials face a harder task in tracking the chain of control.
The letter says the rule would give states more tools to oversee mailed ballots. It also says the rule would keep election authority with the states.
“In short, we support the Service’s proposed rule in full,” the letter states.
The letter says the proposal addresses concerns about election security. It also urges the Postal Service to finalize the rule.
Attorneys general from Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas joined the Alabama-led letter.
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