Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has announced the arrest of Terry Andrew Heflin, a Democrat running for District 5 of the Clay County Commission, on seven felony charges of voter fraud. The charges, filed on Wednesday, accuse the 45-year-old of unlawfully using absentee ballots by falsifying applications and submitting absentee votes under multiple identities.
According to the indictment, Heflin is accused of using others’ names to vote for himself by absentee ballot. Each count of unlawful use of an absentee ballot constitutes a Class C felony, which carries a penalty of one year and one day to ten years in prison.
Heflin turned himself in at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and is currently detained in the Clay County jail. The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division will prosecute the case. The arrest highlights recent efforts by Alabama lawmakers to combat voter fraud, particularly absentee ballot abuses, through legislation aimed at securing election integrity.
Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) praised the legislative measures: “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.”