Primary election information
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Food for Thought
Judge of Probate Richard Dean
The 2024 primary elections are 18 days away. The primary elections are party elections to determine who will represent the Democratic and Republican parties on Alabama’s general election ballots. The primary election will be March 5. The primary runoff election will be April 16. Coosa County may or may not have candidates who must have a runoff election this cycle.
The Democrats will not have a primary runoff election in Coosa County. The only contested office for the Democratic primary is for president of the United States. Since there are only two Democratic candidates competing for this office, this race will be decided in the primary election on March 5.
However, there is a possibility the Republicans will have a primary runoff election in Coosa County. There are seven Republican candidates competing for president; three candidates for U.S. House of Representatives, District 6; three candidates for State Board of Education, District 3; and three candidates for Coosa County circuit clerk. Unless a candidate in each of these four contested races receives 50 percent plus one vote of the total votes cast for their respective office, there will be a runoff election.
If you read “The Coosa County News,” I am sure you are aware there was a glitch in the voter listing published in the February 8 edition. The voter listing from the Alabama Election System sent to the paper had 8,253 registered voter names. About half of the list was published. There appears to have been a glitch in the conversion from our software into the newspaper’s software. When the error was realized, “The Coosa County News” quickly posted a notice on their Facebook page. Our Registrars and Probate staff members fielded many calls, texts and emails.
“The Coosa County News” republished the Coosa County Voter Listing in this edition. If you are a registered Coosa County voter, please take a minute to look at the listing to verify your name is listed. If you believe you are a registered voter and your name does not appear, please immediately contact the Registrars office at 256-377-2418.
If you are not a registered voter and would like to register, the deadline to register for the primary election is quickly approaching. The last day to hand-deliver a voter registration to the Registrars is today, February 16, by 4 p.m. The last day to postmark a mail-in registration form is tomorrow, February 17, by midnight. The last day to register electronically through the secretary of state’s website (www.sos.alabama.gov) is Monday, February 19, by midnight. My recommendation is to hand-deliver or register on the secretary of state’s website.
From registering to vote to voting absentee. Absentee voting began on January 10, in the judge of probate’s office. The last day for an absentee application to be received by mail is February 27. The last day for an absentee application to be hand-delivered is February 29. The last day for hand-delivered absentee ballots to be returned is March 4, by 4 p.m. The last day for mail-in absentee ballots to be received is noon, March 5.
Any absentee ballots (other than military or overseas) received after these deadlines will not be counted. The only exception to these laws are Medical Emergency Absentee applications and ballots for a voter who has a medical emergency within five (5) days of the election. If a voter has a medical emergency within five days of the election, the voter or his/her designated representative should immediately contact the absentee election manager to obtain directions for voting Medical Emergency Absentee.
In Alabama, absentee ballots may not be deposited in drop boxes. According to §17-11-4 of the Code of Alabama, “The application may be handed by the applicant to the absentee election manager or forwarded to him or her by United States mail or by commercial carrier, as determined by rule by the secretary of state.”
In Alabama, it is illegal for any individual to return or mail another individual’s absentee ballot application or absentee ballot. This is known as “ballot trafficking” or “ballot harvesting.” Alabama law mandates absentee application and ballot chain of custody be strictly maintained. If the absentee application or ballot chain of custody is broken; the law has been violated and the violation is prosecutable.
Many people ask about the absentee ballot counting process. The Absentee Polling Facility polling officials are assigned and trained as are all other polling officials. These polling officials review every returned ballot envelope for proper completion, witnessing and compliance with Alabama laws. If everything on the return envelope conforms with Alabama laws, the envelope is opened and the secrecy envelope containing the actual ballot is removed. This secrecy envelope is placed in a box to be counted.
After the return envelopes are secured, polling officials begin opening the secrecy envelopes, removing the ballots and scanning the ballots into the tabulating machines beginning at 7 p.m. This process is followed so no polling official will know who returned a specific ballot. It should be noted the absentee election manager nor the probate judge make any decisions to accept or reject an absentee return envelope.
If an absentee ballot has erroneous marks, multiple marks, or no marks at all the ballot is tabulated/cast “as is.” Coosa County absentee polling officials may not attempt to re-mark, erase, or adjust a ballot to make it tabulate more correctly. If a ballot cannot be accepted by the tabulating machine (e.g., torn/damaged), that ballot is delivered to the probate judge for hand counting in the presence of both the Democratic and Republican parties’ chairpersons, the media and the absentee polling officials.
Moving to in-person voting. Ballots may NOT be taken outside the polling facility for a voter. To vote, the voter must be in line at the polling facility at 7 p.m. With extremely rare exception, photo identification (ID) is required to vote in Alabama.
Every polling facility has handicap voting assistance machines. Voters may request, with little limitation, anyone the voter chooses to assist him/her with marking his/her ballot. After the voter marks his/her ballot, the voter must place it in the tabulating machine to be counted. If the voter has difficulty placing his/her ballot into the machine, the voter may request polling officials to assist the voter.
Finally relating to the election process. If you are a victim of, or witness, any type voter fraud, report it to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at 334-242-7210 or by visiting stopvoterfraudnow.com. If you witness something on Election Day that appears strange, notify the judge of probate or sheriff immediately so it can be investigated.
Any voter having a question should call our office (256-377-4919, option 4) or send us an email (CoosaCountyProbate@Outlook.com). Voters may also ask respective political party chairpersons questions. In Coosa County, the Democratic Party chairperson is Vanessa Owens; the Republican Party chairperson is Chuck Bradley. We all work to educate Coosa County voters and make sure all eligible votes are counted. I hope to see you at the polls on March 5!
