Alabama voting issues

Election and registration information

 * Alabama - Voter Registration

Voter ID requirements
Following is a list of acceptable forms of identification. Each voter should ensure that he or she has one form of identification available when he or she goes to vote.

Questions about the voter identification requirements may be directed to the Elections Division by email or by phone (242-7210, in the Montgomery area; or statewide at 1-800-274-8683).

A. Current, Valid Photo Identification

1. Government-issued photo identifications (current and valid) 2. Employee identification for employee with photo of employee produced by the employer 3. Photo identification card issued by Alabama college or university 4. Photo identification issued from Alabama technical or professional school (current and valid)

OR

B. One of the following

1. Utility bill of voter with voter's name and address 2. Bank statement with voter's name and address 3. Government check with voter's name and address 4. Paycheck with voter's name and address 5. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the State of Alabama (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Alabama) 6. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by any of the other 49 states (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of that State) 7. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the government of the United States of America (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government 8. Valid United States passport 9. Valid Alabama hunting license 10. Valid Alabama fishing license 11. Valid Alabama pistol/revolver permit 12. Valid pilot's license issued by the FAA or other authorized agency of the federal government 13. Valid United States military identification 14. Birth certificate (certified copy) 15. Valid Social Security card 16. Naturalization document (certified copy) 17. Court record of adoption (certified copy) 18. Court record of name change (certified copy) 19. Valid Medicaid card 20. Valid Medicare card 21. Valid electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card 22. Government document that shows the name and address of the voter

Note: Those items listed in Section B can be the original document (license, card, etc.) or a photocopy of the document.

Without one of these forms of identification, a voter is permitted to:

1. vote a challenged or provisional ballot 2. vote, if he or she is identified as a voter on the poll list who is eligible to vote by two poll workers and both poll workers sign the voting sign-in register by the voter's name


 * Check Your Provisional Ballot Status

2008 election
For the 2008 election Alabama used the following voting machines. For a county-by-county list of the specific machines (and the source for this section) see Verified Voting's Verifier tool.

Optical scan machines:
 * Election Systems & Software's Model 100
 * Sequoia Optech III-P Eagle

Assistive Devices for Marking Paper Ballots:
 * Election Systems & Software's AutoMARK Technical Systems AutoMARK VAT

Governmental election authorities
Secretary of State Beth Chapman

Elections division website: http://www.sos.state.al.us/elections

Contact information:
 * Voice: 334-242-7210
 * Toll Free: 1-800-274-8683
 * Fax: 334-242-2444

Physical Address
 * 600 Dexter Ave, Suite E-208
 * Montgomery, AL 36130

Mailing Address
 * PO Box 5616
 * Montgomery, AL 36103-5616


 * County election officials

Election threats

 * For an extensive log of voting machine problems, see the VotersUnite! report on election incidents.

Voter registration in prisons
In September 2008, the state Republican Party chair Mike Hubbard sent a letter to Alabama corrections commissioner Richard Allen, opposing a voter registration drive for state prisoners. The state constitution allows prisoners to vote via absentee ballots, but the drive was halted in response to the GOP letter. "Allen said he decided to stop the drive because of a section in the state code that prohibits using state-owned property to promote or advance candidates for election," even though the drive was non-partisan. "'While it is not clear that assisting voters to register would violate those provisions, I cannot expose departmental employees to that possibility,'" he wrote."

The Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, who was leading the prison registration effort, responded by suing the Alabama Department of Corrections for stopping the drive. The lawsuit was settled on October 22, 2008. "The settlement lets activists hold voter-education sessions but bans them from supplying registration materials," reported USA Today. "Flyers titled 'Voting While Incarcerated' will be posted on prison bulletin boards and in inmate law libraries, explaining how to register and obtain absentee ballots," according to an AP report.

State and local non-governmental election organizations
League of Women Voters

LWV of Alabama, Mrs. Mary Bates, President
 * 1304 Columbia Drive
 * Birmingham, AL 35226
 * Phone: 205-871-8194
 * Fax: 205-879-8936
 * E-mail: admin@lwval.org
 * http://www.lwval.org/

Local Leagues:
 * Baldwin County
 * East Alabama
 * Greater Birmingham
 * Greater Tuscaloosa
 * Mobile
 * Montgomery