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On June 25, 2019, Merrill announced his candidacy for Alabama's United States Senate seat in the 2020 election against incumbent Democratic senator Doug Jones. He is one of five GOP candidates.

On July 17, 2019, at a campaign event in Fort Payne, he stated that "homosexual activities" persuasive in mainstream media had partly lead to the nation's moral decline. When asked in a follow-up interview, Merrill pointed to the media coverage of the United States women's national soccer team win in the World Cup as an instance. According to Merrill, there are no longer any television shows "that are based on biblical foundations" which "promote family and culture with a father, a mother, and children" present.

A 2016 study by professors Bridget A. King and Norman E. Youngblood at Auburn University, found the content and quality of Alabama's county election and voting websites were lacking with relevant information regarding deadlines, polling stations, and voter requirements. King and Youngblood's evaluation of the relationship between voting systems and "demographic, socioeconomic, partisan, and participatory composition" of counties showed "limited voting and election information and are not in full compliance with accessibility, usability, and mobile readiness standards." Furthermore, they found the extent to which voting and elections information are provided is "related to county composition."

Merrill was part of a coalition of American election officials who traveled with fellow Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) poll monitors to Russia for poll monitoring during the parliamentary elections held on September 18, 2016. While Merrill did not personally witness corrupt or improper procedures, the report found systemic problems with "serious irregularities during voting" and even worse practices during ballot counting.

Merrill announced in January 2013 that he would run for Secretary of State of Alabama in the 2014 elections. In the Republican Party primary election in June 2014, Merrill finished in first, advancing to a runoff election in July, which he won. In the general election on November 3, 2014, he defeated Lula Albert-Kaigler, the Democratic Party nominee with more than 60% of the vote. He succeeded James R. Bennett, who had been appointed to the office to fill out the remainder of the term of the Republican incumbent representative Beth Chapman. Merrill was elected to a second full term in 2018.

Merrill applauded the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision by the United States Supreme Court, which among other things, limits federal poll monitoring in Southern states. The court's ruling was criticized by Democratic and liberal groups like the Advancement Project.

Merrill defended Alabama's Voter ID law passed in 2011. In a 2016 United States Court of Appeals decision, Alabama's Voter ID law was determined to be unconstitutional because of its perceived disruption to the federalized voter registration forms. Alabama's law was challenged by the League of Women Voters over a potential violation of the Voting Rights Act. The law had required voters to furnish proof of citizenship when registering at the polls in an effort to prevent voter fraud. The decision effectively struck down a rule that required voters in Alabama to provide proof they are American citizens. Elsewhere, voters only need to swear that they are citizens in order to cast a ballot.

Merrill served as the spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa County School District, and as a business development officer for the First Federal Bank in Tuscaloosa. He was elected to represent the 62nd district in the Alabama House of Representatives in the 2010 elections having previously run and lost for the same seat in 2002 as a Democrat. He served in the House of Representatives for a single term from 2010 through 2014.

Merrill is married to the former Cindy Benford of Phil Campbell, Alabama. They were married on May 11th, 1985 at Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They have two children.

Merrill was born in Wedowee, Alabama and raised in Heflin, Alabama. His father served as the Cleburne County circuit clerk and a probate judge. At the age of sixteen he received the Eagle Scout Award as a member of his local boy scouts troop.In 1982, he graduated from Cleburne County High School. Merrill double majored in history and politics at the University of Alabama and received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1987. Merrill interned for the United States Congress from May to July 1983, where he met representative William Flynt Nichols, who became his mentor. The following year, Merrill interned in the capitol for senator Howell Heflin between May and July 1984. He served as the president of the University of Alabama's Student Government Association from 1986 to 1987.

John Harold Merrill (born November 12, 1963) is an American politician serving as the 53rd secretary of state of Alabama since 2015. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2010 through 2014. Merrill is a member of the Republican Party.