MONTGOMERY – On Thursday, Secretary of State John Merrill announced that approximately 1.2 million eligible Alabamians who are either not registered to vote or in need of updating voter registration information will receive a Mail-In Voter Registration Application.

This effort is in cooperation with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which identifies eligible citizens who are not yet registered to vote, and member states must contact those citizens, educating them on the most efficient means of registering.

Those in Alabama receiving the application can register to vote or update information by mailing their form back in to their local Board of Registrars, visiting alabamavotes.gov/vote or downloading the Vote for Alabama app.

“In the spirit of bipartisanship, I want to commend Representative Ainsworth and Senator Ross for their leadership in the passage of Act No. 2015-459,” said Secretary Merrill. “I would also like to thank ERIC and the Pew Charitable Trusts for ensuring this effort was made possible. Because of their assistance, voter registration is now as efficient and effective as ever.”

“As long as I am Alabama’s Secretary of State, we will continue our innovative efforts to ensure that every eligible U.S. citizen that is a resident of Alabama is exercising their right to vote.”

ERIC is a non-profit organization with the sole mission of assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. ERIC is governed and managed by states who choose to join and was formed in 2012 with assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The seven states that pioneered the formation of ERIC in 2012 are:  Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Washington D.C., Oregon, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Minnesota joined in 2014, Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in 2015, and Alaska, Ohio, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wisconsin in 2016.

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