The commissioner for Perry County, Alabama was indicted on voter fraud charges Wednesday after authorities say he ran multiple ballots through a voting machine during the May 2022 Democratic primary election, according to the Associated Press.
Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner Jr., the son of civil rights activists Albert Turner, Sr. and Evelyn Turner, has been charged with voting more than once and violating Alabama’s law that prohibits the fraudulent collection and filling of other people’s absentee ballots.
“He was stuffing the machine with the ballots that he had already filled out for the folks he was supporting. He did that for a good little while, and he had some folks distracting the poll watchers,” District Attorney Michael Jackson said on Wednesday.
Turner meanwhile is denying that he did anything wrong and dismissing the charges as “political theatre.”
“I am not concerned about any charge he has announced and I will not waste any energy on political theatre,” Turner said. “It is mighty funny that Little Mike waited until he was leaving office to make his charge, because he knows he can’t prove his case.”
Jackson was defeated in the Democratic primary by Robert Turner Jr., Turner’s cousin. The attorney general’s office will be handling the case going forward to avoid a conflict of interest.
[Image: Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images]
