By Blake Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

The Secretary of State’s office confirmed Tuesday complaints have been filed about potential voter fraud in recent elections in the state, including Selma’s municipal election.

“We have received similar complaints for Selma and other areas that people were paying to mark ballots,” said John Bennett, deputy chief of staff for the Secretary of State’s office. “But because they’re ongoing investigations we wouldn’t be able to comment on whether or not those were founded or if they were actually based.”

Bennett said once a complaint is reported, they are sent to the office’s legal team for review.

“Some complaints are forwarded if there is enough evidence to say there is possibly something that happened here,” Bennett said. “Those complaints are then forwarded to either the attorney general’s office, the local district attorney’s office … or the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency if criminal misconduct is present.”

Bennett said complaints regarding municipal elections are usually turned over to the district attorney’s office.

Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said no complaints have been turned over to his office, but that election complaints come as no surprise.

“These allegations are nothing new,” Jackson said. “They go on every election.”

Jackson said reports of voter fraud are not rare in Selma, but it is even more rare to see them founded.

“It’s rare that it turns out somebody actually paid somebody to vote,” Jackson said. “That could get very expensive when you start trying to buy an election. Most candidates just don’t have that kind of money, so that is really a rarity.”

One complaint of possible voter fraud was reported to the Selma Police Department. Patricia Lewis, 57, filed a report on Oct. 4, the day of the election, for an incident she said happened on Sept. 27 at Selma City Hall. Lewis said an unidentified woman paid her $20 to let her mark her absentee ballot.

“Mrs. Lewis stated that the female gave her $20 and took her absentee ballot and marked what they wanted to mark on it,” the police report states.

Bennett could not confirm if Lewis’ complaint was under investigation by the Secretary of State’s office. When reached by telephone about the allegation, Lewis said she had no comment.