Alabama Democrat Terry Andrew Heflin, running for a seat in the District 5 Clay County Commission race, was arrested and charged with seven felony counts of voter fraud on Wednesday. The Clay County Grand Jury indictment alleges that the 45-year-old “did willfully vote for another voter or falsify an absentee ballot application or verification document so as to vote absentee and/or willfully aided any person unlawfully to vote an absentee ballot, to-wit.”
The indictment specifies that Heflin falsified an absentee ballot application for Jamey Ware, who was not a resident of District 5, and voted on Ware’s behalf in the March 5, 2024, District 5 Democratic Primary Election. Additionally, Heflin faces six more counts for allegedly voting on behalf of three other Alabamans multiple times. The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division is handling the case.
Heflin won the Democratic primary in April with 141 votes, defeating Beverly Appleby Hill, who received 98 votes.
Secretary of State Wes Allen emphasized the seriousness of election fraud in a statement: “I have been traveling this state and talking about absentee ballot application fraud and absentee ballot election fraud for years. I have been clear from day one that I take election fraud seriously, and I was not kidding. When my office was made aware of what was happening in Clay County, we immediately referred the case to Attorney General Marshall for criminal prosecution.”
Allen warned that this case should serve as a deterrent to those considering election fraud: “Let this case of felony voter fraud be a signal to all those contemplating breaking Alabama election law that it will not be tolerated in this state. We will find you and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Heflin turned himself in to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and is currently held at the Clay County jail. He could face several years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if convicted.
Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Nathaniel Ledbetter praised the efforts to protect election integrity, stating, “We have a very important election coming up in November, and I have full confidence that it will be safe and secure in the great state of Alabama.”
The left and its media allies have long defended the security of mail-in voting, despite skepticism from conservative circles. In 2020, ABC News criticized then-President Donald Trump for questioning the integrity of vote-by-mail, while the Brennan Center argued that mail ballot fraud is extremely rare and manageable.
