The ability to vote for public officials and issues is a precious power enjoyed by American citizens. This is the year for electing state officials in Alabama and you’ll want to participate in the process.
June 3 is the date for primary elections when the Democratic and Republican parties nominate their candidates for the general election. Runoffs will be held July 15 in races where no candidate wins a majority and the general election will take place Nov. 4.
Active voters
The most recent report of the Secretary of State shows 2,852,166 active voter registrations on file. This is about 400,000 more than at the same time in 2010, the last state election year. About 58 percent of registered voters participated in the 2010 general election but only 32 percent in the primaries and an even-lower 23 percent in the runoffs.
If you need information to navigate the voting process, consult the Secretary of State’s informative elections website (www.sos.alabama.gov/elections/). Registration deadlines and the new photo ID requirements are among the basics everyone should know about.
Alabamians who wish to vote must register and may do so at any time until the 10 days before an election. Registration forms can be obtained from the County Board of Registrars, the Secretary of State’s website, public libraries and various governmental offices.
Beginning with the June 3 primary, Alabamians must present a valid photo ID to vote. Among the approved options are driver licenses, employee and other types of government-issued photo IDs, military IDs, student or employee IDs from colleges and universities, tribal IDs and passports. Free Alabama Photo Voter IDs are available for those without a valid form of voter ID. They can be obtained from the County Board of Registrars or the Secretary of State. At the polls, voters without valid IDs will cast a “provisional ballot” to be counted when eligibility is confirmed.
The Secretary of State’s website also contains details to help military and overseas voters get access to ballots and instructions for those who can’t make it to the polls and wish to vote absentee.
The government of our state begins with electing good leaders and in the end that depends on accepting our responsibility as citizens to participate in voting.
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