Voter fraud charges against Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner Jr. have been dismissed.

Turner was indicted earlier this year on charges of voting more than once, which is a misdemeanor, and harvesting ballots, a felony.

Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins dismissed charges on April 6 following a request by state prosecutors, court records show.

The charges were initially brought by former District Attorney Michael Jackson, who lost his reelection bid to Turner’s first cousin.

Turner was accused of “stuffing” ballot boxes at a Perry County polling place in the May 2022 Democratic primary. He was also accused of mailing a large number of absentee ballots in November’s general election.

Turner’s parents were unsuccessfully prosecuted for voter fraud by then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions in the 1985. He was first appointed to the commission in 2000 to serve the remainder of his father’s fourth term of office after his death. He has since won multiple re-elections.

Turner, who previously said the prosecution was politically motivated, posted this on Facebook about the dismissal:

“After months of speculation and false claims, the Perry County Commission Chairman Albert F. Turner rigged the election to elect his cousin to office, the court has spoken. The attorney from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office stood before the Perry County Circuit Court and asked that the case against Albert Turner be dismissed for lack of evidence. The Attorney General’s Office stated that after an extensive investigation of the complaint filed by the former District Attorney Micheal Jackson and the former Secretary of State John Merrill of alleged voter fraud committed by Albert F. Turner was false and unsubstantiated.

Chairman Turner, who was never arrested, fingerprinted, appeared in court, or had a mug shot taken, did not appear for the motion hearing before Judge Marvin Wiggins. The Attorney General wanted to nol. pros. the case, but Chairman Turner’s attorney Robert Turner, Sr., would only agree to an Order of Dismissal by the Court signed by the Judge. The State approved, and the judge signed the Order ending the political persecution case.

Chairman Turner, who was informed by phone that the case had been dismissed, said, “Let it be known that no prosecutor should use their office for a political vendetta. My children were upset, and my 86-year-old mother suffered anxiety attacks after hearing that her son would have to face what she, her husband Albert Sr., and Spencer Hogue went through as a defendant in 1986. I don’t care if it’s me, Donald Watkins, or Donald Trump; a prosecutor should not target individuals because of politics. Michael Jackson and John Merrill will pay for this.”

Chairman Turner noted that the case against him directly resulted from the 2022 election that saw Robert Turner, Jr. take down Michael Jackson, with Perry County giving Robert Turner, Jr. an 80% vote over Jackson.

“Jackson wanted to use this fake charge against Chairman Turner as payback to the Chairman for helping to orchestrate Jackson’s defeat. The criminal case is over, and now here comes the civil lawsuit against Michael Jackson and John Merrill,” Turner said.