A security camera in the city clerk’s office will stay up the Selma City Council decided in a contentious decision this week.

Some council members have expressed concerns about the camera being able to record people casting absentee ballots.

The council voted 4-3 to keep the camera up. Bennie Ruth Crenshaw, Michael Johnson and Sam Randolph wanted to remove the camera, while Greg Bjelke, Corey Bowie, B.L. Tucker and Cecil Williamson voted to keep it up.

Crenshaw said the camera could be used to intimidate voters.

“People may be intimidated. People may be harassed. There was no real reason for this,” Crenshaw. “In the city of Selma, in all places, we don’t ever want it said we are suppressing the vote.”

Other council members said there are legitimate security reasons to keep the camera.

“The camera is there for security reasons. We need that camera. To take it down with everything going on in the city and the county, I vote no,” Tucker said.

Williamson said he thought the controversy was politically motivated.

“This is strictly a political issue to try to embarrass the mayor,” Williamson said.

The secretary of state’s office has received complaints about the camera and investigated. Ed Packard, the state’s top election official, said upon investigation that his office has no recommendation whether the camera should be removed.

Packard also apologized to Evans for commenting about the cameras during a meeting with the Selma City Council last Friday. During that meeting, Packard said his office believed the camera “should be turned off or be uninstalled” during the perceptional issues. Packard told the council Tuesday that after more investigation his office has decided to issue no opinion.

“I want to take the opportunity here to apologize to Mayor Evans for not meeting with him last week and letting him know that I was coming over here to speak to the council,” Packard said. “We have reviewed the video camera and the video footage that can be monitored. Based on what we have determined, what we can see from the information that has been provided to us … the purpose of the camera does appear to be merely for security purposes. There doesn’t appear to be any evidence that it can divulge or compromise the secrecy of any voter’s ballot.”

Packard said despite his office not issuing a recommendation on the camera there may still be perceptional issues.

“We do want to underscore today that we have received complaints and concerns that there may be individuals that perceive there may be problems with cameras in the polling place,” Packard said.

Evans said the camera is used strictly for security and nothing more.

“The secretary of state has been here. They looked at the camera. With everything going around across the nation and world, it causes us to be careful,” Evans said. “The camera creates no drama for anybody. The camera is only there for security purposes.”