EXCLUSIVE: Feds Are Helping Register AL Prisoners To Vote
The Secretary of State of Alabama, Wes Allen, has raised concerns regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ actions to register federal prisoners to vote, labeling it as “illegal.” Allen claims that a liberal third-party organization, associated with President Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order aimed at promoting voter registration, is facilitating this effort in Alabama. He argues that this initiative disproportionately targets potential Democrat voters by registering individuals who may not meet state voting eligibility requirements, such as noncitizens or those convicted of disqualifying felonies. Allen has sought clarification from the White House and has expressed frustration over unreturned requests for information on how these registrations are being handled. He emphasizes his commitment to ensuring fair elections in Alabama and plans to explore options to prevent this federal initiative from proceeding. The issue has garnered attention, with other states like Mississippi reportedly experiencing similar federal efforts to aid prisoner voter registration.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has been registering federal prisoners to vote in Alabama, according to Secretary of State Wes Allen, an effort he claims is “illegal.”
“At least one liberal third-party organization has been deployed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to conduct voter registration in federal prisons in Alabama,” Allen said in a statement to The Federalist. “Obviously, this raised questions for my staff and I.”
Allen said President Joe Biden’s “Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting,” issued in March 2021, attempts to “mobilize and weaponize the entire federal government” to “register primarily Democrat leaning groups of voters.”
The federal program has taken the nickname “Bidenbucks.” Like the 2020 election “Zuckbucks” from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which enabled third-party election meddling and get-out-the-vote efforts for likely Democrat voters, it directs federal agencies to work with third-party groups to “promote voter registration and voter participation” in similar ways.
Allen asked the White House “earlier this year” how the federal government has implemented this in Alabama. He said the administration “confirmed” the Bureau of Prisons had “deployed” a “liberal third-party organization” to help register federal prisoners to vote. Those with criminal records are far more likely to vote Democrat than Republican, making this a partisan effort.
Allen said federal prison inmates include “high percentages of noncitizens,” people “not domiciled in Alabama,” and convicts of “crimes of moral turpitude” — defined as “wicked, deviant behavior” — all of whom could be “ineligible to vote” in the state, Allen said in the statement.
Alabama requires voters to be citizens, and not convicted of a “disqualifying felony” — a crime of “moral turpitude” — or have been legally restored voting privileges.
“My office has sent correspondence to both the third-party group and the Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding answers as to how they are ensuring that only eligible, United States citizens are being registered to vote,” Allen said in the statement. “Unsurprisingly, my office’s attempts to gather information and ensure that only eligible U.S. citizens and Alabama residents are being registered to vote have fallen on deaf ears.”
Allen also said he asked the White House about its use of tax dollars to fund the “illegal effort,” but the questions have gone “unanswered.”
The Federalist asked the Federal Bureau of Prisons how it is helping register prisoners to vote, which third-party groups it is partnering with, in which states, and how it can guarantee federal prisoners are eligible to vote. Bureau of Prisons Spokesman Donald Murphy sent a statement to The Federalist, simply saying the agency has given “general information on voting” privileges to “all individuals in its custody” since at least August 2020.
“Voter registration education and the facilitation of registering eligible voters is a valuable exercise of American democracy and an important facet of successful reentry into the community,” Murphy said. “The information FBOP provides includes which districts allow incarcerated individuals to vote and any restrictions their state may have placed on their ability to vote.”
But before the official response, Benjamin O’Cone with the Bureau of Prisons accidentally emailed The Federalist a question, apparently from the Department of Justice intended for a government official.
“We have one question from DOJ,” O’Cone wrote, “Is it accurate to say that BOP is working with the third-party groups? Or are those groups simply doing there [sic] work at BOP facilities without any substantive assistance from BOP?”
O’Cone said the email was “not meant” for The Federalist. The emails of government employees are public records, but those records now take record-breaking delays to access through requests authorized under federal transparency laws.
Allen said his office is “still exploring options” to stop efforts from the federal government to register prisoners in its Alabama facilities.
“I am dedicated to ensuring fair, secure, and transparent elections,” Allen said. “Nobody, not even the Biden-Harris Administration, will get me to back down from that.”
The federal government has been carrying out a similar scheme in Mississippi, using the “Bidenbucks” order to make U.S. Marshals help prisoners register to vote, The Federalist previously reported. The Bureau of Prisons has been partnering with left-leaning groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, and the Campaign Legal Center to encourage voting among prisoners, according to The Daily Signal.
Allen recently uncovered 3,000 potential noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls, as previously reported in the Federalist.
Laney Rawls, Allen’s communications director, previously told The Federalist that the federal government “limits” states’ ability to require proof of citizenship to vote. But Allen instructs local boards of registrars to require an Alabama driver’s license number, non-driver ID, or Social Security number to register a voter.
“Allen has also demanded answers from state and federal agencies conducting these expanded voter registration efforts on how they plan to keep noncitizens from registering to vote in Alabama,” Rawls said at the time.
Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.
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