Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen highlighted changes made to his office, which he said will eliminate millions of dollars in expenditures.
Allen wrote in a Monday press release that, by considering expenditures “through the lens of fiscal responsibility,” his office will reduce over $2 million worth of “wasteful spending” by the end of his term.
“When I was inaugurated as Alabama’s Secretary of State, I promised that I would never forget that I work for the people of this state and not the other way around,” Allen wrote.
“This may come as a surprise to many people because we have been able to achieve this without diminishing the quality or quantity of services provided to the citizens of Alabama,” the secretary of state continued.
Spending cuts initiated by Allen include decreasing the advertising budget for Alabama’s Photo Voter ID program.
Allen’s office claimed that cutting the program’s advertising budget would save his office $1.2 million by the end of his term.
The secretary of state also pointed to his support for a law passed in 2024, which eliminated a business filing provision that required businesses to file annual reports with the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.
Allen argued the law’s passage ended a requirement that “unnecessarily burdened small business owners while charging a fee for this pointless exercise,” and will save the state $690,000 over three years.
He also claimed that by using “existing team members” to train Alabama’s Board of Registrars’ members rather than “an outside vendor,” the secretary of state’s office will eliminate roughly $360,000 by January 2027.
Allen touted that $105,000 will be saved over the next 18 months by eliminating internet services and equipment that his office “was subsidizing and were not being used.”
He also highlighted the elimination of his office’s paid internship program in 2023, which he reported will result in savings of $79,000 over four years.
“I came into office with the mindset that every dollar that was spent needed to be examined to ensure three things. First, that the expenditure makes sense. Second, that the expenditure was necessary. Third, that the result of the expenditure could not be achieved in a more efficient and less expensive way,” Allen wrote.
Allen announced his 2026 bid for Alabama’s lieutenant governor seat earlier this year.
The Republican Primary is scheduled for May 19, 2026.
