The 2024 primary election
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Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
This will be the first election with Alabama’s new congressional map, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the previous one drawn by Alabama Republican lawmakers illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents. The three-judge panel said the state should have two districts where Black voters are the majority or close to it.
The panel selected one of three plans proposed by a court-appointed expert that alters the bounds of Congressional District 2, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise.
Before heading to the polls this Tuesday, March 5, I encourage you to visit www.AlabamaVotes.gov where you can check the status of your voter registration, verify your polling location and view Coosa County’s sample ballots.
Mail-in absentee ballot applications must have already been received by the Coosa County absentee election manager by this past Tuesday, February 27.
Absentee ballots being returned in person must be received by the Coosa County absentee election manager by the close of business on the day before the election, March 4. Absentee ballots returned by mail must be received no later than noon on Election Day, March 5.
On Election Day, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters are required to present a valid form of photo identification before voting at their polling place or by absentee ballot.
For those voting Democrat, the ballot is pretty simple. The choices for president are the current president, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware; U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota’s 3rd District; or “Uncommitted.”
After making a choice for president, Democrats will need to choose up to four candidates for delegates to represent the 6th Congressional District to the 2024 Democratic National Convention. However, since there are only four candidates, simply check all of the boxes for Jane Gray Battle, Louise New Jones, Adarris May, and David Silverstein.
Next for Democrats is for uncommitted delegates. Only one person is on the ballot, so fill in the blank for Rodney Lee Lindsey.
The final two sections are the same for both Democratic AND Republican ballots.
PROPOSED STATEWIDE AMENDMENT NUMBER 1
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, to amend Section 71.01 authorizing the Legislature to sign and transmit local laws or constitutional amendments before the transmission of basic appropriations. (Proposed by Act 2023-562)
REFERENDUM ELECTION
Relating to Coosa County; to authorize the Coosa County Commission to levy an
additional issuance fee of fifteen dollars on the issuance or renewal of each motor vehicle or other vehicle license and registration, with certain exceptions, to provide funding to be used solely to fund and operate a county ambulance service and to provide for termination of the fee under certain conditions. Do you favor the adoption of this Act 2023-151 of the 2023 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature authorizing the Coosa County Commission to levy an additional vehicle tag issuance fee to be used to fund a county ambulance service?
For those voting Republican, the ballot has more going on. Despite several of the candidates having suspended their campaign, all of those who met the qualification standards are still listed on the ballot.
The choices for president are Ryan L. Binkley of Texas, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio, David Stuckenberg of California, former President Donald J. Trump of Florida, and “Uncommitted.”
For U.S. representative for the 6th Congressional District, the candidates are Ken McFeeters of the Indian Lake subdivision in north Shelby County, incumbent Gary Palmer of Hoover and Gerrick Wilkins of Vestavia Hills.
For chief justice of the Supreme Court the candidates are Associate Justice Sarah Stewart of Mobile and former State Sen. Bryan Taylor of Prattville.
For the Court of Civil Appeals judge, Place 2, candidates are Chad Hanson of Trussville and Stephan Davis Parker of Cullman.
For the Court of Criminal Appeals judge, Place 2, candidates are Rich Anderson of Montgomery and Thomas Govan, also of Montgomery.
For president of the Public Service Commission the candidates are Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh of Montgomery and Robert L. McCollum of Dadeville.
For member of the State Board of Education, District Number 3, the candidates are Ann C. Eubank of Hoover, Charlotte Meadows of Shelby County, Kelly Mooney of Birmingham, and Melissa B. Snowden of Montgomery.
For circuit clerk of Coosa County, the candidates are Ramona Cina of Hanover, Jamey Johnson of Rockford and Matthew Reams of Rockford.
The final two sections are the same for both Republican and Democratic ballots, and are addressed above.
Now that all of the candidates and positions are covered, I ask that you as a voter please consider voting for the individuals who will truly be the best person to take our local interests to heart, because in the end, after the 2024 final election in November, we will be stuck with these politicians until their terms end.