MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Secretary of State Wes Allen has officially withdrawn from the Electronic Registration Information Center as his first official act in office.
“I made a promise to the people of Alabama that ending our state’s relationship with the ERIC organization would be my first official act as Secretary of State,” Allen said. “I came into the office after being sworn in yesterday and signed the letter to ERIC notifying them that Alabama is no longer a participant in any of their programs. The relationship between Alabama and ERIC is officially over.”
Allen, who took the oath of office as Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State on Monday, Jan. 16, campaigned on a vow to end Alabama’s participation in the voter system that is run by a non-government organization based in Washington, D.C.
Allen expressed concerns over a private organization having access to the private data of Alabama citizens, including the driver’s license numbers, contact information and partial Social Security numbers of minors.
“Providing the private information of Alabama citizens, including underage minors, to an out-of-state organization is troubling to me and to people that I heard from as I traveled the state for the last 20 months,” Allen said. “That is no longer a concern because the data uploads of that information from Alabama to ERIC (are) over.”
