As the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic rages on, states across the United States are moving in-person polls into absentee voting. Republicans have repeatedly sounded the alarm on the issue of voter fraud, something that is often associated with voting by mail.
Alabama Secretary of State Jim Merrill put CNN in their place when host Brianna Keilar said voting fraud only takes place at the in-person polls.
"I know that since I've been the Secretary of State in Alabama – five years, four months and eight days – we've had six convictions on voter fraud and had two elections that have been overturned. Five of the six that have been convicted were convicted for fraudulent activity related to absentee balloting," Merrill explained. "I know that for a fact."
"Are you aware that the research shows that in-person voting is more likely to result in voter fraud, which, overall, is basically nonexistent?" host Keilar asked with a laugh. "So it's kind of odd that we're having this conversation, but it's mostly in-person voting, not absentee ballot voting."
Merrill clapped back, saying "everyone is entitled to their opinions but they're not entitled to their own facts."
"And the facts in our state show that we have had voter fraud, that we have had people convicted and those people are currently incarcerated. Period," the secretary of state said. "We're making it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Alabama."
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill fact checks CNN on voter fraud: "not entitled to their own facts"https://t.co/urEHWIJGCC pic.twitter.com/CYaebD2hTm
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 26, 2020