FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
State Rep. Jamie Kiel - Jeff Poor Show - Thursday 8-01-24
[music] Welcome back to the Jet Force Shoulders and Talk, for those 6-5-8s who are sticking around on this Thursday morning. I'll make those real quick, our buddy Jerry Carl, two things, getting chased around Capitol Hill by a bunch of co-pakers. And since I mean this, Johnny Cash getting a statue in Statuary Hall there in the U.S. Capitol. So those of you out there just so happened during this discussion that Johnny Cash is going to be honored in Statuary Hall. So there you go. Joining us now on the line, very appreciative of his time, he represents a part of northwest Alabama, Franklin County, but he's from Russellville. State Rep. Jamie Keel joins us on the line. Representative, good morning. How are you? Good morning, Jeff. I'm doing great. Good to hear from you. Hey, thanks for making time for us. Well, before we get into it, we're going to have a talk since session. I assume we've recovered from session, but everything going okay. Yeah, we've got back to some normal reactor session. Most legislators have jobs outside of the legislature, and I'm no exception, so I was able to get back to my business and get back to some normal for here. Well, that is good to hear. Well, just your initial reaction here, let's talk about Clay County, and you took some heat. I just I remember like watching a lot of Democrats, including the Senate minority leader, Bobby Singleton, Castigate You and your co-sponsors on this ballot harvesting bill. And now granted, a diet that's not a conviction. The accused are innocent until proven guilty. But I think now that there's a wall on the books that there is something beyond just a misdemeanor slap on the wrist that you're going to see more of this in the coming months of this ballot harvesting and absentee ballot fraud. I agree, you know, to a serious state with Alan brought this attention, brought this to my attention, and, you know, we looked at different options on how to solve this problem, and I filed a bill in 2023. And, you know, when we got to committee and on the House floor, and even in the media, I mean, it was time after time, people saying that this was a solution looking for a problem, that there was no problem in the state with our absentee obligations or the ballots, and that, you know, that we were just looking looking to make a political statement to get political mileage. And obviously that's just not true. And I'm with you. I think we're going to find more and more instances as we dig deeper into the election process, specifically the absentee ballot process. We're going to find to be true. What I have said, the Secretary said, said then, is that, you know, our election day is secure. You know, when you go to the, when you go to the poll, there's, there's no internet access to our polling machines. There's, there's no modems or anything like that. But nationwide, when you see fraud by large, that fraud is committed before election day. And Alabama, you know, the absentee ballot is our only quote early voting method. And we need it. I mean, we have people that are out of town, or, you know, we were in session in March during the primary. I used absentee ballot, and that's the ballot to vote personally, because I was in Montgomery and couldn't vote otherwise. And so we need that, but we do need to make sure that we have it mailed down to a point where, you know, fraud cannot happen. And, you know, I mean, I think, I think we have a team of people here, a team of groups of people who are very serious about election integrity in Alabama. I mean, the, I am certainly, you know, want to ensure that our elections are secure, but, I mean, we have a Secretary of State in West Allen that's serious about it. Our legislature given her obvious, serious about it. And obviously, Attorney General Marshall is prosecuting this current case where, you know, there was alleged instances of, you know, something unlawful happening. He's obviously on board. So, you know, there's not just one person or one group driving this bus. But, I mean, we've got a team of folks who are, are, good day, I'm serious about election integrity. Well, I want to get back to, like, the hits you took. I mean, representative, I've been in Alabama most of my life, and I've always heard that there was this ballot harvesting going on, and all over the black belt, that it's just, it was just the way things were done, and we were never going to change it. That's just, it's just the reality, it's a fact of life, and you guys, you don't understand any of this, you don't live here, you just need to get over it. And I mean, at some point, you just shrug it off, but like, to say, to say that this is not going on, and the reason I, this is, you know, you see some of the media types say, well, there's only been two proven cases in the last 40 years or something of, uh, absentee ballot fraud, it's just not, because the reason is, right, representative that the prosecutors, first off, you have to rely on local prosecution, and a lot of times those local prosecutors may have used this means to get elected. But number two, the penalty just wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth the, the, the crime, you know, like I said, the slap on the wrist. Why, why would the attorney general cut the sin upon a county where there's just rampant absentee ballot fraud? To go after each of these individuals on a misdemeanor basis, it just wasn't worth his time. Yeah, I mean, and that's the reason we changed the law is to, is to show that just how serious we are about election integrity and Alabama. I mean, we want to make sure that every part of this process is secure. And, and you're right. I mean, if you watch the committee meetings or you watched the debate on the floor, you know, in, in 2023 and in 2024, there were lines of people who were lined up at those committee meetings who were there to, you know, take shots at me or take shots of Republicans as being, you know, they, they tried to shift the argument towards, well, we're trying to impact handicapped people or blind people or, you know, people who were just advantaged in some way. And so, you know, we even spelled out. Well, first of all, voter out that wouldn't allow you to discriminate against someone who is blind or disabled. And, but, but we even took the language from the voter out that put it in our bill, but it was very clear that, you know, if you're blind or disabled, you can get whatever you want to help you. And, you know, it's still that not, I mean, it was just very disingenuous because they still go to the media and they were still, you know, ridiculing me and ridiculing the legislature or, you know, trying to take advantage of someone who couldn't help themselves. It just was not true. And, and then on the other side to, to try to say, well, you know, there, there's nothing like this happening in Alabama. There's no where, I mean, where's the prosecution? Where is the indictment? Where is, you know, who served at times? Well, just like you said, I mean, the, you know, the repercussion for having done or for taking in some kind of illegal activity, it just did not match the crime. The, you know, the sentence that was imposed wouldn't match the crime. And so, you know, this does give the prosecutors, you know, a more of a motivation to go after those folks, because at least once they go through the old prosecution process, it is lengthy, it's expensive. You know, at least when you go through it, you don't put down the other style of the misdemeanor. Yeah, and then you really just get like a, it's more like a debate trophy or something. Well, you see, we told you this was going on all along and you said it wasn't, but there's just wasn't, it wasn't worth their while with everything going on in this state, guys. All of these, like you look at the AG's office and they're having to take on a presidential administration, they're having to defend the state from a bunch of lawsuits from these left wing storefronts out there. And there's all these things, the AG's office, I mean, way down the list is prosecuting misdemeanor ballot fraud. And that's why you never saw it. So I just, I would say this though, I think this is what supported representative this indictment. Now, we don't know what's going to happen here, but the point is that this first show here, hey, we're serious about enforcing this law. Don't think about doing this in the second congressional district to cycle. Well, that's exactly right. I mean, we've got a very important election coming up and, you know, this does send the message that people are watching. The Secretary of State's office is watching, the Attorney General's office is watching. And I mean, I hope that people get the message that this is very serious. We take, we take election integrity very seriously. And, you know, when this election comes in November, I mean, I hope everybody plays the rule. They do everything within the law to win their election, but it needs to be within the law because there will be repercussions for folks who do not operate within the law. Right. And this is just seems, this is the scenario where it would happen, right? That you in where I think it happened in 2017 with Roy Moore and Doug Jones way more than we know, but now your congressional elections up. And this is just a part of the playbook. Like when I was a child representative, I remember when he was a US attorney, Jeff Sessions, going after this stuff and just getting like just taking all kinds of political heat. I think it was part of the reason why he wasn't confirmed to the federal bench when he was appointed by Reagan, but we've, we've known about this. And then finally, we have a legislature that is willing to do something about it. Well, I mean, like I said, we take it seriously and, you know, we're going to be looking for more ways to make sure that the election process is transparent from starting to finish. You know, we need to, we need to be sure that, that the people of the state of Alabama are, can rest assured that when they go to vote, that their vote counts, first of all, and second of all, that someone's not doing something illegally to keep that from happening. Or to, to somehow stuff about it in an absentee ballot box so that it offsets their vote. The people need to know that our election process is absolutely impact in Alabama and that we are. We're very serious about it. One more question on the ballot harvesting. I mean, let's kind of explain what ballot harvesting is. And this is my interpretation is said campaign would are, or whatever, they would, they said people out go knocking on doors with absentee ballot applications and sometimes they're just already, you know, everything's filled out for them and they sign their name. That it's sort of, sort of that. And there's enticements and there's a lot of, it is really kind of a dirty, dirty racket, but to say that it doesn't exist is as fiction. Well, it is exactly what you said. Plus, there are groups of people who are getting paid to do that. They're getting paid to take those pre-filled ballot applications in some instances, you know, to do those things. They're profiting off the election process. And, you know, I mean, elections are, you know, they're a foundation of our country. Nobody should be profiting from that. I mean, our, our forefathers set forth a way for us to all participate in government. And that is to go to the ballot box and mark the best decision that you can make who you want to lead us. And when you get into these areas where people are being paid to manipulate the ballot process, that is not what the founding fathers intended when they when they determined how we would select our leaders. And, I mean, the message needs to be that if, you know, if you mess with that, that you're going to go to jail and that, you know, and our elections are sacred that, you know, that we take it very seriously. On this same vein, I mean, what else needs to be done here to increase the, you know, the protection of the election process in Alabama, you think? Well, I mean, I think, you know, that there's anything that we need to continue to look at. It is the absentee ballot process. We need to make sure that we primarily keep voting in Alabama on election day. You know, we believe in, and I don't know, we believe in election day, not election month. Secretary Allen has said that over and over, that we believe in election day, not election month. And I believe that. I believe it's the most secure way to vote. You know, it's funny to me that people want to talk about convenience for, you know, one of the vote early. I know right now when the election is in November. And as a matter of fact, I know when it's going to be four years from now, because it's the same time every day. Well, you know, we also have other things that happen yearly, like Christmas, for instance. And, and although my kids would like to have Christmas month, where they get to decide and know when they're going to get their presents and decide when they're going to get their presents and get them early. You know, that might be more convenient for them, but they know that Christmas is on Christmas day and the presents are coming on Christmas day. And we've got plenty of time to plan for that to make sure that we can be there. And, you know, I don't think it inconveniences people too much to show up one day out of the year and be patriotic in the best way that they can and go vote. When you deviate from that election day, it's when bad things happen about the process. And we're seeing that nationwide, we saw it four years ago, but they will try it again this time. And we've just got to make sure now that it just does not happen. Well said, Representative, we appreciate your time this morning. Stay safe up there and we'll talk again soon. All right, stay representative Jamie Keel there. Let's get a break here. We'll be right back. This is FM Talk. 1065. [MUSIC]