The Alabama primary is days away on Tuesday, March 3rd! #bethechange and make sure your voice is heard by voting (and telling your family and friends to vote)!
Special thanks to Chris Christie, attorney extraordinaire and former candidate, Lauren Roberts from A+ Education Partnerships, and all the amazing candidates who presented at our meeting this month.
Read on for some voting tips for the March 3rd Primary.
SAMPLE BALLOTS
Sample ballots for the March 3rd Primary for both parties can be found by looking up your county here. If you want to know which specific ballot is yours, call the Jefferson County Board of Registrars at (205) 325-5550 and give them your name and address.
VOTING IN JEFFERSON COUNTY ON MARCH 3, 2020
presented by Chris Christie
- To vote, present an acceptable ID and choose Democratic or Republican primary ballot.
- For a Presidential delegate vote to count, voter must vote for delegate’s Presidential candidate.
- Voter can take a sample ballot into polling place (precinct); cannot share it inside.
- Voter can have anyone, except employer or union, help voter vote (helper must sign).
- Voter over 70 or disabled may ask to go to the front of the line.
- Voter can ask to have a replacement ballot if voter spoils (messes up) ballot.
- Voter can wear campaign buttons and shirts while voting; don’t draw attention to them inside.
- Voter should not take photos inside or outside polling places.
- Campaigning permitted at polling place but must be at least 30 feet from entrance.
- Acceptable IDs include valid Alabama Driver’s License, Non-driver’s identification card, passport, government ID, or post-high school student ID. Valid means ID not expired 60 days after election. List of acceptable photo IDs here!
- Vote by provisional ballot if voter (1) forgot to bring acceptable ID, (2) is not on list of eligible voters and registrar or probate judge cannot verify registration, (3) inspector challenges, (4) voter requested but did not vote absentee ballot, or (5) court orders voting time extended and vote during extended time. Also, provisional voter completes Voter Re-identification/Update Form.
- If voter list shows voter as inactive or if Registrar or Probate Judge verify registration, voter completes Voter Re-identification/Update Form and does not complete Provisional Ballot
- If voter moved in same county and did not re-register, vote provisional at new polling place.
- Vote where you live. If changed address, re-register at least 14 days before. Easy to do online.
- To register online, one must have a valid Alabama Driver’s License or valid Non-driver’s identification card. Online voter registration here!
- Register to vote at least 14 days before an election. To register, one must be 18 or older, a United States and Alabama citizen, not have been adjudged “mentally incompetent,” and not have been convicted of a disqualifying felony. Disqualifying felonies (Crimes of Moral Turpitude, Ala. Code § 17-3-30.1) listed here.
- Locate voter’s polling place and Districts (need address or need Last Name and DOB) here!
- Check voting status (active or inactive) and Districts (need First and Last name and DOB) here!
- Voter fraud can be reported to the Secretary of State online, by 800 number, by fax or by mail here!
- Alabama Election Laws can be found here!
Absentee Voting Eligibility
If a voter wants to vote absentee, an easy way is to go to Room 500, Jefferson County Courthouse, 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35203-0115.
For Absentee voting information, including applications by mail, visit here. Below is quoted from this same site:
A voter may cast an absentee ballot if he or she
- EXPECTS TO BE ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY on election day
- IS ILL OR HAS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY that prevents a trip to the polling place
- IS A REGISTERED ALABAMA VOTER LIVING OUTSIDE THE COUNTY, such as a member of the armed forces, a voter employed outside the United States, a college student, or a spouse or child of such a person
- IS AN APPOINTED ELECTION OFFICER OR POLL WATCHER at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place
- EXPECTS TO WORK A REQUIRED SHIFT, 10-HOURS OR MORE, that coincides with polling hours
- IS A CAREGIVER for a family member to the second degree of kinship by affinity or consanguinity and the family member is confined to his or her home
- IS CURRENTLY INCARCERATED in prison or jail and has not been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude
The deadline to submit an absentee ballot application is the 5th day prior to the election.
EMERGENCY ABSENTEE VOTING applications can be made after the absentee deadline but no later than 5 PM on the day before the election, if the voter:
- is required by an employer under unforeseen circumstances to be unavailable at the polls on the day of the election
- is a caregiver of a person who requires emergency treatment by licensed physician within five days before an election
- has a family member to the second degree of kinship by affinity or consanguinity die within five days before an election
MEDICAL EMERGENCY ABSENTEE VOTING applications can be made by a voter who has a medical emergency requiring treatment from a licensed physician within 5 days of an election. During that 5 day period, the medical emergency absentee ballot application and the voted absentee ballot must be returned no later than noon on the day the election is held. The medical emergency absentee ballot application requires that the attending physician describe and certify the circumstances as constituting an emergency. The voter may designate someone to turn in the medical emergency absentee ballot application, receive the absentee ballot on behalf of the voter, and return the voted absentee ballot to the Absentee Election Manager on behalf of the voter.
AMENDMENT 1 INFORMATION
presented by Lauren Roberts, A+ Education Partnership, VP Strategic Communications & Development
The text of the amendment will read:
“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to change the name of the State Board of Education to the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the members of the commission by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate; to change the name of the State Superintendent of Education to the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the secretary by the commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate; and to authorize the Governor to appoint a team of local educators and other officials to advise the commission on matters relating to the functioning and duties of the State Department of Education.”
Followed by a “Yes ( ) No ( )”
Lauren’s presentation included arguments for and against the amendment:
For more information on the amendment by the Fair Ballot Commission, click here. Go Vote!
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