The heated back-and-forth between the Alabama Secretary of State's Office and the Southern Poverty Law Center continued Tuesday, with both sides accusing them of misleading Alabama residents about incorrect voter information cards sent to voters in the 2nd Congressional District. blamed the other party.

The SPLC issued a press release Monday “condemning” Secretary of State Wes Allen and his office, saying more than 5,000 voters in the 7th District were incorrectly listed, according to the SPLC. Allen's office responded to the complaint by arguing that the error was at the county level and that the SPLC should rescind its release.

On Tuesday, both sides doubled down, even as the Montgomery County Registrar's Office tried to hold them accountable for the mistake. Montgomery election officials blamed the card error on a “computer glitch.”

In a letter from SPLC Deputy General Counsel Bradley Hurd, the SPLC noted that Joe Levin, the center's co-founder, received the wrong card (a photo of which was provided to APR). , said that according to Alabama statutes, it is the responsibility of SOS. To maintain accurate voter lists.

“Even if a local registrar is sending incorrect information to voters based on information contained in a statewide database, the source of the original error, the number of affected voters (and the likelihood of being harmed) “It is ultimately the Secretary's responsibility to identify absentee voters (including absentee voters who have been sent the wrong ballot) to ensure corrective action is taken,” Hurd said. is stated in the letter. “We once again ask the Secretary to explain how this error occurred and what corrective actions will be taken to ensure absentee voters and in-person voters receive the correct ballot in tomorrow's election. We request that you immediately provide a full and complete explanation of what corrective actions will be taken.”

Mr. Allen's office fired back with a lengthy letter from chief legal counsel Michael Jones outlining a number of problems with the SPLC's claims, calling them “potentially illegal.”

Jones' letter states that all voter information for the 2nd Congressional District in the voter file is accurate, that all voters received the correct ballots, and that all absentee ballots were properly distributed; It was stated that no constituency information was involved and that no false information had been provided by the constituency. This is SOS office.

He also accused the SPLC of briefly using false information to portray the office in a negative light.

“Given these facts, the SPLC is temporarily discouraging the release of information that may have been partially true while Montgomery County officials work to update House District data for Montgomery County registered voters.” It appears that they have chosen to withhold this and strategically weaponize it,” the letter states. said. “That is no longer true, and it was not true yesterday when the SPLC issued a press release.”

However, an SPLC spokesperson told APR on Monday that they received a voter list from Allen's office several weeks ago that contained incorrect information. The letter from Allen's office also noted that the incorrect card was issued on Jan. 24 and that the data in the Montgomery County Registrar's Office file may have been incorrect at that time. There is.

It remains unclear whether the registrar's office was working directly from voter files maintained by Allen's office or using information stored on computers.