Voting In Alabama

To be eligible to vote in Alabama, you must be:

• A United States Citizen
• A resident in Alabama
• At least 18 years old
• Not convicted of a felony (or have had your rights restored)
• Not legally declared mentally incompetent by a court

Identification is not required when registering to vote in Alabama, however, an acceptable form of ID will be required at the polling place. Applicants may register the same day they move into the state.

• Government-issued photo identifications authorized by law (current and valid, including any branch, department agency or entity of the federal government)
• Employee identification with photo of employee produced by the employer
• Utility bill of voter with your name and address
• Bank statement with your name and address
• Government check with your name and address
• Paycheck with your name and address
• Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the State of Alabama (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Alabama, including colleges, universities, and technical or professional schools)
• Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by any of the other 49 states (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of that State)
• Valid U.S. passport
• Valid Alabama hunting license
• Valid Alabama fishing license
• Valid Alabama pistol/revolver permit
• Valid pilot's license issued by the FAA or other authorized agency of the federal government
• Valid United States military identification
• Birth certificate (certified copy)
• Valid Social Security card
• Naturalization document (certified copy)
• Court record of adoption (certified copy)
• Court record of name change (certified copy)
• Valid Medicaid card
• Valid electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card

If you have questions about these identification requirements please contact the Elections Division at 334-242-7210 or 800-274-8683.

Voter registration closes ten days before an election.

To verify your voter registration status, please contact your elections office or board of elections for your county, city or state.

The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is five days prior to an election. Ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election or can be hand delivered by 5:00 pm on Election Day.

For statewide elections, absentee ballot applications and completed absentee ballots should be hand delivered or mailed to the absentee election manager in care of the circuit clerk for your county.

Absentee Voting Eligibility
You may cast an absentee ballot if you:

• Will be absent from the county on Election Day
• Are ill or have a physical disability that prevents a trip to the polling place
• Are 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
• Are an appointed election office or poll watcher at a polling place other than your regular polling place
• You are working a required shift of ten hours or more that coincides with polling hours

Business and medical emergency voting applications can be made after the absentee deadline, but no later than 5:00 pm on the day before the election, if you:

• Are required by an employer under unforeseen circumstances to be out of the county on Election Day for an emergency business trip
• Have a medical emergency requiring treatment from a licensed physician

In addition to application information outlined in the next section, the business emergency application contains an affidavit acknowledging that you were not aware of the out-of-county business trip prior to the normal absentee ballot deadline. The medical emergency application requires that the attending physician describe and certify the circumstances as constituting an emergency.

To obtain an absentee ballot, write or visit the local absentee election manager at your local circuit clerk. You will need to provide the following information:

• Name and residential address (or other information to verify voter registration)
• Election for which the ballot is requested
• Reason for absence from polls on Election Day
• Party choice for primary elections
• Address to which the ballot should be mailed
• Voter signature (if a mark is made in place of a signature, it must be witnessed)

Upon receiving the absentee ballot application, the absentee election manager may request additional evidence on the reason for voting absentee if you have a history of absentee voting. The absentee ballot applications must turned in no later than the fifth day before the election.

If the absentee ballot application is approved, the absentee election manager forwards the absentee ballot by U.S. Mail, or personally hands the absentee ballot to the voter (or to a designee in the case of emergency voting).

Ballot Receipt/Return

The absentee ballot can not be counted unless the affidavit is notarized or has the signatures of two witnesses.

The absentee ballot comes with three envelopes: one plain (the secrecy envelope), one with an affidavit or oath, printed on the outside, and one plain envelope, preaddressed (the outer envelope). Once you cast the ballot, the procedure is as follows:

• Seal the ballot in the plain envelope
• Place the plain envelope inside the accompanying affidavit envelope
• Seal the affidavit envelope and complete the affidavit that is on the outside of the envelope
• Sign the affidavit and have the signature witnessed by either a notary public or two witnesses 18 years of age or older
• Place the affidavit envelope AND a copy of voter identification inside the outer envelope
• Remember to place a copy of your I.D. (NOT THE ORIGINAL) inside the outer envelope

Two legal ways to return the absentee ballot:

• by U.S. mail
• personally hands the absentee ballot to the absentee election manager (or delivers by a designee in case of emergency absentee voting)

Absentee Ballot Return Deadline

Absentee ballot that is returned by mail must be postmarked no later than the day prior to the election. If it is hand delivered, the ballot must be in the office of the Absentee Election Manager by the close of business (no later than 5pm) on the day prior to the election.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Early voting is not available in Alabama.

The next special election will be held on Tuesday, April 13, 2010: Planning and Zoning Election - District 14 / Baldwin County (Saturday, April 3, 2010: Registration Deadline). The following municipal and statewide elections are scheduled to take place in 2010:

In order to be a poll worker in Alabama:

• You must be registered to vote in Alabama
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• You must be a resident of the precinct
• You must state your political affiliation
• You must complete the required training
• You will be entitled to compensation

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Alabama polling places are open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Time off to vote is available for those who's work hours exceed polling place hours. If not, employers are not reuqired to give time off to vote. The necessary time off shall not exceed one hour. Whether this time is paid varies by town.

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Alabama State Poll Locator Tool.

The board of registrars sends a certificate of registration to you that includes the address of your polling place. If you do not receive your certificate, or if you have further questions regarding your polling place location, please contact your local elections official.

A provisional ballot is voted the same as any other ballot except you must sign an affidavit attesting to your eligibility to vote. If your name is not on the poll list, the provisional ballot will be counted only if the county board of registrars is able to confirm, after the election, that you are a duly qualified elector of the county.

When you cast a provisional ballot because you did not have proper identification at the polling place, you have until 5:00 pm on the Monday following the election to submit the ID to the board of registrars. If proper ID is submitted by this deadline, the ballot will be counted. You may also cast a provisional ballot if you did not receive a requested absentee ballot or did not vote the absentee ballot.

To find instructions on how to cast a provisional ballot visit your state's resource.

To find out if your provisional ballot was counted, use your state's provisional ballot tool.

The voting system used in Alabama is optical scan.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

Any voter who wishes to have assistance is entitled to help. You may ask anyone (except your employer, an agent of the employer, or an officer or agent of the voter's union) to provide that assistance for you. If you do not request a specific individual, a poll worker may assist you at your request. Polling places should be accessible to people with disabilities. If your specific disability is not accomodated, please contact your county's board of elections .

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

For information on state campaign contributions, please visit your state's resource.