Alabama was the cradle of the civil rights movement, where much of the battle for voting rights was waged more than 40 years ago, but now there are growing allegations of voter fraud across the state.

The claims have surfaced in eight counties in Alabama, and they include allegations that absentee ballots were sold and traded for cash, crack-cocaine and even piles of driveway gravel.

"They get them, and say, ‘I will give you 40 or 50 dollars,’ so a lot of people are unemployed and will jump for that," voter Wanda Sanders said.

Some officials, though, are launching investigations in a move to make sure all votes are not only counted but counted fairly and honestly.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King, a Republican, seized absentee ballots from three primarily black counties after allegations of vote-selling surfaced in the June 3 Democratic primary.

"We are not going to allow these people to continue to steal elections with impunity. It cannot be tolerated," King said.

One election under investigation was won by Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner Jr.

Turner thinks there is voting fraud in his county but denies having anything to do with it.

"They don’t have one person to say they got paid by Albert Turner,” Turner said. “My work is what got me elected. I take care of my people. I fight for my people. That’s what got me elected, not money.”

Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson said “some people don't see the harm” in selling their vote, "not understanding the history of what happened in the '50s and '60s."

In nearby Hale County, three people –- including a former county clerk -– recently were indicted on charges of absentee ballot fraud.

And there have been reports of similar absentee ballot fraud in at least a dozen states across the country in recent years.

"How easy is it to steal an election using absentee ballots? Very easy, very easy,” said Faye Cochran, of the Democracy Defense League. “The absentee ballot box is the most vulnerable to voter fraud without changing the loopholes our laws allow of this.”

Since the investigations started there have been even more allegations of vote-buying and absentee-ballot abuse.

But Turner says the investigations are little more than a Republican witch hunt to suppress the black vote.

“You go after black people, you go after black Democrats -- you prosecute them for vote fraud, boom.” he said.

King denies any political motivation.

"The ability of a great number of Alabamans to participate at all was bought with the blood of the leaders of the civil rights movement in this very state where votes are being bought and sold,” he said. “And we will not allow their memories to be desecrated by anybody.”

If you have a voter fraud story you'd like to report, e-mail voterfraud@foxnews.com.

FOX News’ Eric Shawn contributed to this report.