John Merrill (American politician)

See also: Elections in Alabama

Voter access

A 2016 study by professors Bridget A. King and Norman E. Youngblood at Auburn University, found the content and quality of Alabama's county election and voting websites were lacking with relevant information regarding deadlines, polling stations, and voter requirements. King and Youngblood's evaluation of the relationship between voting systems and "demographic, socioeconomic, partisan, and participatory composition" of counties showed "limited voting and election information and are not in full compliance with accessibility, usability, and mobile readiness standards." Furthermore, they found the extent to which voting and elections information are provided is "related to county composition." ^[10]

Voter ID

In a 2016 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit blocked Merrill from enforcing Alabama's "documentary proof of citizenship" requirement for voting. The court ruled that the addition of this requirement to the federal voter registration forms violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Alabama's law was challenged by the League of Women Voters. ^[11] The decision effectively struck down a rule that required voters in Alabama to provide proof they are American citizens. Under federal law, voters only need to swear that they are citizens in order to register to vote. ^{[12] [13]}

Merrill applauded the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision by the United States Supreme Court, which among other things, limits federal poll monitoring in Southern states. ^[14] The court's ruling was criticized by Democratic and liberal groups like the Advancement Project. ^[15]

Poll monitoring

Merrill was part of a coalition of American election officials who traveled with fellow Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) poll monitors to Russia for poll monitoring during the parliamentary elections held on September 18, 2016. ^[16] Merrill said that the election in Russia was "free and fair". The election was widely considered to not be free and fair, and the OSCE report found systemic problems with "serious irregularities during voting" and even worse practices during ballot counting. ^[16]

U.S. Senate campaigns

2020

Main article: 2020 United States Senate election in Alabama

In June 2019, Merrill announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in the 2020 election, to challenge incumbent Democratic senator Doug Jones. He was one of several candidates for the Republican nomination; others included Roy Moore, Bradley Byrne, Tommy Tuberville, and Arnold Mooney. ^{[17] [18]}

In July 2019, at a campaign event in Fort Payne, Merrill said that "homosexual activities" pervasive in mainstream media had partly lead to the nation's moral decline. When asked in a follow-up interview, Merrill pointed to the media coverage of the U.S. women's national soccer team win in the World Cup as an instance. ^[19] Merrill contended that were no longer any television shows "that are based on biblical foundations" which "promote family and culture with a father, a mother, and children" present. ^[17] Merrill dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination in December 2019. ^[18]

2022

In 2021, Merrill announced that he was canceling his planned 2022 Senate campaign, after being publicly exposed as having had an extramarital affair over a four-year period. ^[20]

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Merrill sought to block local jurisdiction in Alabama from allowing curbside voting for immunocompromised voters. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Alabama on a 5–3 vote in late October 2020, with the court divided along ideological lines. ^[21]

2020 election fraud conspiracies

In 2021, Merrill met with Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow and a Donald Trump adviser, who was known for making outlandish conspiracy theories and false claims about fraud in the 2020 election. The state of Alabama subsequently sold a list of voter rolls to Lindell. When asked if he believed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden, Merrill refused to answer. ^[22] Later, after Lindell claimed that Alabama's election results were fraudulent, Merrill disputed Lindell's claim. ^[23]

Personal life

Merrill is a relative of Hugh Davis Merrill, the former lieutenant governor of Alabama and Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, Hugh Davis Merrill Jr., who served in the House, and Pelham Jones Merrill who served in the House and fought in World War II.

Merrill is married to the former Cindy Benford of Phil Campbell, Alabama. They were married on May 11, 1985, at Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. ^[24] They have two children.

In 2015, allegations were made public that Merrill had an affair in 2010 with a local woman in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he resided. Although he denied receiving oral sex, he finally admitted “only” to kissing and being fondled in his pants while partially dressed.

In 2021, he was again accused of having an extramarital affair with a female legal assistant. Merrill denied the claim and said the woman was "stalking" and "harassing" him. When presented with a 17-minute audio tape in which the two described positions and actions in the three-year-long relationship, he admitted the affair and stated that he would not run for the US Senate in 2022, but also would not resign as Secretary of State, leaving office at the end of his term in January 2023. [20] ^[25]

John Merrill
53rd Secretary of State of Alabama
In office January 19, 2015 –January 16, 2023

2010 Alabama House of Representatives 62nd district Republican primary election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	John Merrill	3,262	56.12
Republican	Jerry Tingle	2,551	43.88

2010 Alabama House of Representatives 62nd district election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	John Merrill	11,658	86.66
Constitution	Steven Kneussle	1,694	12.59
Write-ins	Write-ins	100	0.74

2014 Alabama Secretary of State Republican primary election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	John Merrill	143,960	39.57
Republican	Reese McKinney	139,763	38.42
Republican	Jim Perdue	80,050	22.01

2014 Alabama Secretary of State Republican primary runoff election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	John Merrill	108,740	53.14
Republican	Reese McKinney	95,877	46.86

2014 Alabama Secretary of State election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	John Merrill	733,298	64.27
Democratic	Lula Albert-Kaigler	406,373	35.62
Write-ins	Write-ins	1,271	0.11

References

1. "Merrill becomes Eagle scout". The Anniston Star . July 26, 1980. p. 50. Retrieved April 19, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Doing what he has always wanted to do... Secretary of State - elect, John Merrill". AL.com. November 9, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
3. "State Rep. John Merrill announces he will run for Alabama secretary of state". AL.com. January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
4. "Alabama secretary of state, auditor's races headed to runoffs". AL.com. June 4, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
5. "Rep. John Merrill defeats Reese McKinney for Republican nomination for secretary of state". AL.com. July 16, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
6. "Alabama Local News - al.com". al.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
7. "Former Alabama Secretary of State Jim Bennett has died". al. August 18, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
8. "John Merrill defeats Heather Milam to retain Alabama secretary of state post". The Montgomery Advertiser.
9. "WATCH ALABAMA INAUGURATION: Gov. Kay Ivey, Other Elected Leaders Sworn into Office". Alabama News Network. January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
10. King, Bridget A.; Youngblood, Norman E. (May 29, 2016). "E-government in Alabama: An analysis of county voting and election website content, usability, accessibility, and mobile readiness". Government Information Quarterly. 33 (4): 715–726. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2016.09.001.
11. "Court Blocks Proof-Of-Citizenship Requirement For Voters In 3 States". NPR. September 10, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
12. "Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth". Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
13. Levitt, Justin (August 6, 2014). "A Comprehensive Investigation of Voter Impersonation Finds 31 Credible Incidents out of One Billion Ballots". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
14. "SHELBY COUNTY, ALABAMA v. HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET AL." (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. June 25, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
15. "SCOTUS Removes Critical Protection For Voters Of Color". Advancement Project. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
16. "What did Alabama's top election official learn from monitoring Russian election?". WHNT.com. September 29, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
17. Daugherty, Owen (July 16, 2019). "Alabama GOP senate candidate says 'homosexual activities' have ruined TV, country's moral core". The Hill. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
18. Greg Garrison, John Merrill drops out of U.S. senate race, AL.com (December 1, 2019).
19. Fitzsimmons, Tim (July 17, 2019). "GOP official says fixation with 'homosexual activities' harming U.S. moral core". NBC News. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
20. Sheets, Connor; Whitmire, Kyle (April 7, 2021). "Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill admits affair, won't run for U.S. Senate: 'There's no excuse'". The Birmingham News . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
21. Barnes, Robert (October 21, 2020). "Supreme Court grants Alabama's request for ban on curbside voting". The Washington Post.
22. "MyPillow's Mike Lindell to run 'tests' on Alabama voter list after meeting Merrill, Ivey". al. September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
23. "Secretary of State disputes MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's claims Alabama had 100,000 'flipped' votes". al. September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
24. "Benford, Merrill". The Anniston Star. June 16, 1985. p. 45. Retrieved April 6, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
25. ELLIOT HANNON (April 8, 2021). "Alabama GOP Senate Candidate Is Extremely Outraged at Affair Allegations Before Being Presented With a 17-Minute Tape". slate.com.

External links

• Profile at Vote Smart

Party political offices
Preceded by Beth Chapman	Republican nominee for Secretary of State of Alabama 2014, 2018	Succeeded by Wes Allen
Alabama House of Representatives
Preceded by Gerald Allen	Member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the 62nd district 2010–2014	Succeeded by Rich Wingo
Political offices
Preceded by James R. Bennett	Secretary of State of Alabama 2015–2023	Succeeded by Wes Allen