Montgomery, AL – A federal judge has ended Gov. Bob Riley's role as special master in charge of developing a computerized system for voter registration.
U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins ruled last October that Alabama finally had a system that met federal requirements. But he left Riley as the special master until the system was tried in a few elections.
The system went through the presidential primary, state primary and state runoff without significant problems. Watkins said Thursday the time has come to return the computer system to the secretary of state's office.
Watkins put the governor in control after former Secretary of State Nancy Worley failed to meet a deadline in 2006 for making Alabama's voter registration compliant with the federal Help America Vote Act.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)