Perry County Commission Chair Indicted For Voter Fraud

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner, Jr. has been indicted on felony and misdemeanor charges of voter fraud, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and Fourth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Michael Jackson announced Wednesday.

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Merrill's office says the first indictment follows the primary election on May 24, 2022, with Turner accused of voting multiple times and inserting several completed ballots into the tabulator at a polling location in Perry County.

What's more, Turner stands accused ballot harvesting during the Nov. 8, 2022 general election.

Merrill says Turner allegedly presented multiple completed absentee ballots for mailing from the U.S. Post Office.

Turner has served on the Perry County Commission since 2000, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of his father’s fourth term of office after his death representing District 1.

District 1 covers the west central portion of the county.

Turner is presently in his third term on the Commission and is also the president and CEO of the Emerson Company — a political consulting and lobbying firm with offices in Montgomery and Marion.

If convicted of a felony, Turner would be barred from holding public office.

During a press conference on Monday, Merrill said Alabama has had seven convictions of voter fraud and three elections overturned within the last eight years.

Merrill was also asked the charges in question could affect the outcome of any of the elections held in May or in the general election, to which he responded “it is not appropriate at this time to comment because a lot of variables that factor into that decision and these matters are currently under investigation.

“Since January 19, 2015, we have worked extraordinarily hard to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Alabama,” Merrill added. “While the accused is innocent until proven guilty, it is important to know that this incident, just like the other 1,805 incidents we have investigated over the last eight years, will receive the full attention of this office as we confirm for the people for the State of Alabama that we are the gold standard for election administration in the United States.”

After the indictment was handed down, Jackson requested that anyone who has any information on either of these indictments, to contact the Alabama Attorney General’s Office or the Secretary of State’s Office's elections division at (334) 242-7210.

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