Alabama

Articles about voting issues in Alabama.

Republican Party still reviewing primary ballots as one presidential delegate hangs in the balance | al.com

Apr 052012

Jefferson County Presiding Court Judge Scott Vowell on Tuesday ordered Jefferson County to retabulate the votes from the March 13 Republican presidential primary in precincts that are split between two congressional districts, a review that could change how the state GOP awards one of its delegates. Vowell also ordered the Alabama Republican Party to pay for the review if the state does not reimburse Jefferson County. The order came after a lawsuit was filed Friday by the Alabama Republican Party arguing that votes in 48 split precincts in Jefferson and six other counties failed to identify which congressional district the presidential vote came from. The issue is significant because some of the party’s presidential delegates are awarded based on how each candidate fared within the congressional districts. Alabama Republican Party Executive Director T.J. Maloney, testifying Tuesday, said 16 of the split precincts are in Jefferson County. Read More »

Proposed recall election law likely won't be misused | al.com

Apr 022012

With the Alabama Senate considering a recall law for all officials throughout the state, voters could look north to the recall fights in Wisconsin and express some concern whether the state would become a brutal, political, three-ring circus. However, because of the way the potential Alabama law is structured, the likelihood of misuse is small. Alabama would be the 19th state to allow for recalls for state-level officials (an additional state, Illinois, allows it just for the governor). Alabama is already one of the 36 states that allow some municipalities to provide for a recall of local officials. Among those 18 states with the recall for state-level officials, there is a deep and very meaningful divide. Eleven of them have what is called a “political recall” — meaning they can recall an official for any reason whatsoever. The famous recalls in U.S. history, such as the ones in Wisconsin and the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, were not for any charges of incompetence or ethical violations reason. They were solely for political reasons. Read More »

Mobile County ballot problems caused by tiny printing error | al.com

Mar 162012

A printing mistake on some Mobile County ballots in Tuesday’s election caused electronic voting machines to reject them — forcing poll workers to count roughly 3,000 ballots by hand into the early morning hours, Probate Court officials said today. “This little white dot,” said Probate Judge Don Davis, pointing to a white, donut-shaped mark barely one-tenth of an inch wide. The tiny error, though, ended up in an important spot, on the security markings that let the electronic machines know whether to count it. The markings look like a bar code stretching along the side of the ballot. The faulty marks appeared only on Republican primary ballots for precincts within the contested Mobile County Commission District 3. Not all of the District 3 ballots were affected, officials said. Poll workers at 12 precincts on Tuesday noticed that machines were rejecting some ballots as they were scanned in. Read More »

11 precincts experience issues with ballot scanners in Mobile County | al.com

Mar 152012

Eleven voting centers in Mobile County reported issues with electronic ballot scanners during Tuesday’s primary election. Most of those voting centers were in the south or west parts of the county, according to Roxann Dyess, county election coordinator. Generally, the precincts reported issues with some of the ballots fed into the scanners, although 1 — the Odd Fellows Lodge in Irvington — was unable to scan any of the ballots cast, she said late Tuesday. The ballots that weren’t electronically scanned were placed into secure emergency bins, to be collected by deputies and Probate Court staff, Dyess said. She described the issue as being one where the machines accepted the ballots as they were physically fed into them by poll workers, but then displayed error messages that prohibited the ballots from being counted. Read More »

Military ballots may decide primary election | The Montgomery Advertiser

Mar 142012

If primary elections are close enough today in 29 counties, including Montgomery and Elmore, the results might not be known until near the end of the month. More than 1,000 military and overseas absentee ballots won’t be counted until later in the month, which could make some races too close to call today. That includes the GOP presidential contest, where the winner may not become known today if the non-absentee vote totals show the race is too close to call. There are also absentee ballots, the secretary of state’s office did not know how many, sent to Alabamians living elsewhere in the United States. Read More »

Super-PAC Ads Dominate Republican Race in Alabama, Mississippi | Bloomberg

Mar 142012

Television advertisements in Alabama and Mississippi promoting rival Republican presidential contenders have been paid for almost entirely by independent political action committees instead of the candidates’ campaigns. So-called Super-PACs supplied 91 percent of the 5,592 campaign ads that aired on broadcast television stations in the two states in the past month, according to data from New York- based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks advertising. Alabama and Mississippi hold primary elections today, and polls indicate a close race in each among former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Read More »

Voter ID, immigration laws take center stage as demonstrators re-enact Selma-Montgomery march | The Washington Post

Mar 052012

It won’t just be about history when crowds cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge this weekend and recreate the famous civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery — it will be about targeting Alabama’s toughest-in-the-nation immigration laws and its new voter ID requirements. Organizers expect thousands to participate in the crossing of the Selma bridge for the 47th anniversary of the 1965 incident when peaceful demonstrators were attacked by police in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The violence helped spark passage of the Voting Rights Act. They say hundreds plan to make the 50-mile march between Selma and Montgomery over the next week. Read More »

State, county officials blame each other for Alabama absentee ballot fiasco | The Montgomery Advertiser

Mar 022012

The state of Alabama filed a response Wednesday to a temporary restraining order issued over absentee ballots that were sent late to military and overseas voters. The response filed Wednesday lists some of the precautions the secretary of state’s office took and the special circumstances that led to the delays. County and state election officials, meanwhile, sparred over where to place the blame for the delays. The U.S. Justice Department filed a suit late Friday against Alabama and Secretary of State Beth Chapman alleging that the state failed to send absentee ballots to military and overseas voters by the required deadline for the March 13 primaries. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a temporary restraining order against Chapman and the state Tuesday that requires them to work with the Justice Department to decide on a remedy for the late ballots. Read More »

Federal judge issues temporary restraining order against Alabama over military voting | al.com

Feb 292012

A federal judge today issued a temporary restraining order against the state of Alabama after the federal government sued the state and Secretary of State Beth Chapman, saying the state sent many of its military and overseas voters absentee ballots too late for them to participate in the March 13 primary election. The order states that within two days, Chapman must file a county-specific report detailing all military and overseas voters absentee ballots.
The order also requires the state to provide information about all such ballots requested before and after Jan. 28, 2012 and the date they were distributed. The state is also required to report how many ballots were sent by mail and how many were sent electronically. Read More »

Feds sue state over handling of absentee ballots | al.com

Feb 272012

The federal government on Friday sued Alabama and its top election official, saying the state sent many of its military and overseas voters absentee ballots too late for them to participate in the March 13 primary election. ”Our uniformed service members and overseas citizens deserve a meaningful opportunity to participate in the elections of our nation’s leaders,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, in a statement. Federal law requires states to let such voters and their families register to vote and vote absentee for all elections for federal office. The state did not mail absentee ballots to many of its military and overseas voters until after the federal deadline of Jan. 28, the agency said. Read More »

Is it bribery or just politics? | The Washington Post

Feb 142012

All elected officials, and those who help finance elections in the expectation that certain promises will be kept — and everyone who cares about the rule of law — should hope the Supreme Court agrees to hear Don Siegelman’s appeal of his conviction. Until the court clarifies what constitutes quid pro quo political corruption, Americans engage in politics at their peril because prosecutors have dangerous discretion to criminalize politics. Siegelman, a Democrat, was elected Alabama’s governor in 1998 and was defeated in 2002. In 2006, he and a prominent Alabama businessman — Richard Scrushy, former chief executive of HealthSouth — were convicted of bribery. Read More »

Justice Department move might propel Shelby County, Alabama voting case to U.S. Supreme Court | al.com

Feb 062012

The chances that Shelby County’s challenge to the Voting Rights Act will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court have improved since the Justice Department announced it is rethinking its position in a similar North Carolina case. In a Jan. 30 letter to a lawyer for a group of voters in Kinston, NC., the assistant attorney general for civil rights said the agency has new information and will reconsider its 2009 objection to the city’s switch to nonpartisan elections. Assuming the Justice Department formally withdraws that objection, Kinston’s related lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act goes away. Read More »

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman asks Supreme Court to review conviction | al.com

Feb 032012

Former Gov. Don Siegelman today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his 2006 conviction in a government corruption case arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of bribery. The petition was filed with the high court today, according to Siegelman lawyer Sam Heldman. ”By granting review, this court would have the opportunity to right an injustice, to exonerate a man who has committed no crime, and to clarify the law in a manner that will be important to all candidates, elected officials, and politically engaged citizens,” Siegelman’s lawyers wrote in the petition. Read More »

One-man Washington nonprofit helps steer Shelby County voting case | al.com

Jan 312012

Shelby County’s name is on the case, but a one-man Washington, D.C., legal defense fund with private donors is the driving force behind one of the most important constitutional challenges to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Project on Fair Representation is the nonprofit run by Edward Blum, a one-time congressional candidate in Texas with two decades of experience in litigation over affirmative action, redistricting and voting rights. After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009 expressed some reservations about the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act but no official ruling, Blum found in Shelby County a potential litigant to try again: a local government that had grown weary of the burdens of the Voting Rights Act and a willingness to take that complaint all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. So the Shelby County Commission agreed to let Blum’s Project on Fair Representation hire the lawyers and file the case that alleges two key parts of the landmark civil rights law are outdated and no longer necessary. Read More »

Voting and Racial History - Shelby County v. Holder and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act | NYTimes.com

Jan 282012

Instead of ensuring that voting rights are extended to all Americans, many state legislatures are engaged in efforts to shut out voters in this election year, taking aim at young people, immigrants and minorities. Last week, a panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard a case that could eviscerate the ability of the federal government to prevent racial discrimination in voting. The issue in Shelby County v. Holder involves Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires that jurisdictions with flagrant histories of racial discrimination in voting must get permission from the Justice Department or a federal court before making any changes in their voting rules or laws. Read More »

Appeals Court Examines Constitutionality Of Voting Rights Act Provision | The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Jan 212012

A federal appeals court in Washington is reviewing the constitutionality of a provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires certain local and state governments to get permission from the U.S. Justice Department before implementing electoral changes. Bert Rein, representing Shelby County, Alabama in the suit against the federal government, today urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to strike down Section 5 of the 1965 law as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled for DOJ last September. Read More »

Key provision of voting rights law under court scrutiny | NBC

Jan 212012

A central part of election law dating back to the historic civil rights struggles of the 1960s could be scrapped or curtailed in the coming months as a critical case makes its way through the courts. The fate of a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is now being decided by the federal appeals court in Washington, as a three-judge panel weighs an appeal from Shelby County, Ala. asking the court to find that Congress exceeded its power when it renewed section 5 of the law in 2006. Read More »

Appeals Court Hears Challenge To Voting Rights Act | Fox News

Jan 202012

Appeals court judges expressed concern Thursday about whether to overrule Congress’ determination that some southern states and other jurisdictions still must have federal election monitoring to protect minority voting rights. Alabama’s Shelby County is challenging a requirement under the Voting Rights Act that governments with a history of discrimination obtain federal approval to change even minor election procedures. An attorney for the county argued in federal appeals court in Washington that the South has changed and that extraordinary oversight is no longer needed. But two of three judges on the panel hearing the case pointed out Congress renewed the provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2006 after finding that discrimination still exists. A lower court endorsed that finding. Read More »

Alabama backs Shelby County in Voting Rights Act appeal | al.com

Nov 292011

The state of Alabama has officially sided with Shelby County in its fight to have key sections of the Voting Rights Act declared unconstitutional. ”To be clear: There are still race-relations problems in Alabama, just as there are race-relations problems in every state of our Union. But today’s Alabama has come a long way from the past that justified (Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act) some 40 years ago,” wrote lawyers for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

Shelby County, a mostly white and strongly Republican area, sued the U.S. Justice Department last year over the decision by Congress in 2006 to extend the historic civil rights-era law by another 25 years. The county’s case, financed by a nonprofit interest group, argues that the law is outdated and too much of a burden because it requires that local election procedures get approved in advance by the federal government. Read More »

Jefferson County Commission talks cutting funds from election budget | Birmingham Business Journal

Nov 172011

The Jefferson County Commission is mulling its first round of cutbacks since filing the nation’s largest governmental bankruptcy last week. In committee on Tuesday, commissioners discussed cutting up to $880,000 from its budget for the March 2012 primary election and the potential April runoff election.

To achieve the cuts, the council will consider next week eliminating proposed contracts with Election Systems & Software that would provide about 20 experts to manage and troubleshoot the upcoming election. Read More »

Alabama County Continues Fight Over Voting Rights Act | Wall Street Journal

Nov 042011

Several states – all with Republican majorities in the state legislature – having been fighting to have portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 declared unconstitutional. Now, an Alabama county is asking a federal appeals court in Washington to strike down a judge’s September ruling that upheld the Act’s constitutionality, the Blog of Legal Times reports.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, known as the “preclearance” section, requires some states and localities to get permission from the Justice Department before changing laws relating to elections. The provision applies mostly to locations in the South, where discrimination historically prevented many groups from voting. Read More »

D.C. Circuit To Hear Voting Rights Act Case In January | The Blog of Legal Times

Nov 032011

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Lawyers for an Alabama county that is challenging a controversial section of the Voting Rights Act have asked a federal appeals court in Washington to strike down a judge’s ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the law. Judge John Bates of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in September ruled for the Justice Department in its defense of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The section requires some states and localities to get permission before implementing election-related changes.

Section 5, according to the Justice Department, was set up to ensure that changes do not harm minority voting rights. Congress extended the Voting Rights Act in 2006 another 25 years. Shelby County, Ala., sued the Justice Department last year. Read More »

Federal appeals court will hear Shelby County voting rights case in January | al.com

Oct 132011

A panel of three federal appellate judges will hear oral arguments Jan. 19 in an Alabama-based case about the constitutionality of key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Shelby County case is a likely contender for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether certain parts of the country should continue to have their elections supervised by the U.S. Justice Department for signs of racial discrimination. All or part of 16 states, including Alabama, have to submit their election-related changes for approval.

U.S. District Judge John Bates last month sided with the Justice Department and upheld the landmark voting rights law that Congress in 2006 agreed to extend for another 25 years. It is Shelby County’s appeal of that decision that is going before the three-judge panel, which is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court. Read More »

Failure of Alabama challenge to Voting Rights Act looms over Arizona suit | East Valley Tribune

Sep 222011

The decision by a federal judge Wednesday to reject challenges by an Alabama county to the Voting Rights Act likely will mean a similar fate for Arizona’s lawsuit, state Attorney General Tom Horne said. Horne acknowledged that the lawsuit he filed last month is based on many of the same arguments that Shelby County made. More to the point, the judge who issued Wednesday’s ruling upholding the federal law is the same one assigned to hear Arizona’s challenge.

But there are other signs that Horne will have a hard time arguing that there’s no reason the Voting Rights Act should extend to Arizona. Horne contends that any discrimination against minorities that may have occurred in the past in Arizona is ancient history. He said there is no evidence of ongoing problems.

But in his 151-page ruling in the Alabama case, Judge John Bates said there are studies as recent as 2004 showing a significant disparity between voter turnout of Hispanics and Anglos. And he cited evidence presented to Congress in 2006 when it renewed the Voting Rights Act, of “men (in Arizona) wearing military or tool belts and black T-shirts reading ‘U.S. Constitutional Enforcement’ approaching Latinos waiting in line to vote, demanding proof of citizenship.” Read More »

No need for a voter ID law | Huntsville Times

Jun 202011

The Alabama Legislature is notorious for providing solutions to problems that don’t exist. Requiring photo identification at the polls is one such example. There’s just been no compelling evidence of election fraud by voters who aren’t who they claim to be.

Yet in the waning hours of the 2011 legislative session, the Legislature approved a bill that will require voters to show photo identification at the polls before voting, with some exceptions. The bill takes effect with the 2014 elections. Read More »

Voter ID bill passes Alabama Senate | Anniston Star

Jun 102011

The Alabama Senate passed a bill 22-10 Thursday that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls. In a brief debate — limited to about 20 minutes by Senate leadership — supporters described the bill as a way to provide security to a crucial part of the democratic process.

“When you go to a convenience store, boarding a plane, or going to a courthouse, you have to show photo ID,” said Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, a supporter of the bill.

Opponents of the bill questioned the cost of implementing it in a year of budget hardship. Allen said the bill would cost the state approximately $250,000 in new equipment. One critic of the bill, Sen. Tammy Irons, D-Florence, said the bill would likely cost more in advertising to get the word out about the ID requirement. Read More »

Secretary of State Chapman praises state lawmakers for passage of Alabama military voting bill | Shelby County Reporter

Jun 022011

Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman on June 1 praised the Alabama House of Representatives for passing the final version of a bill that would make it easier for military and overseas voters to vote while serving abroad.

Senate Bill 55, created by Chapman and Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, was approved with a 97-0 vote and now goes to Gov. Robert Bentley for approval. Read More »

House passes bill creating new voting options for Alabama military, other overseas voters - allows electronic submission of voted ballots | The Republic

Jun 012011

The Alabama Legislature is creating new ways for the military and other Alabama voters who are overseas to return their ballots.

The House voted 97-0 Tuesday night to give final approval to a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville. The bill now goes to the governor for singing into law. Read More »

Appeals court reinstates felony charges against former Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley | The Republic

May 282011

A state appeals court reinstated five felony charges Friday against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley for a second time.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 4-0 ruling that said prosecutors presented enough evidence for the charges to stand against the former Democratic officeholder.

The decision means Worley’s four-year legal battle is far from over. Her attorney, James Anderson, said he would ask the court to reconsider, and if it doesn’t, she would appeal to the state Supreme Court for a second time. Read More »

Military overseas voting bill passes Alabama Senate | Gadsen Times

Mar 312011

It’s hard for overseas servicemen and -women to vote back home in Alabama, but bills in the House and Senate will change that, the sponsor of a Senate bill said. The Senate by a 30-1 margin on Thursday approved a bill by Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, to create a 13-member Alabama Electronic Overseas Voting AdvisoryCommittee.

The committee would determine whether secure electronic absentee voting can be developed for Alabamians living and working overseas on election days. The secretary of state would have to establish, test and implement absentee overseas balloting by secure electronic means. Read More »

Alabama Man honored for defense of black voting rights | WSFA 12 News

Mar 082011

Inspirational songs followed stories and memories you’d only find in history books as civil rights era icons were honored at the National Voting Rights Museum as part of the second day of the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee. One man–John Doar–a white attorney who worked for the U.S. Department of Justice came to Selma in the 1960s to represent African Americans who were denied the right to vote.

“We did it without fear or favor. We went right down the line as law enforcement officers,” says Doar. He says whites were allowed to vote simply because they were white. But, even the most educated black person couldn’t register–which was against the law. Read More »

AL: Election Center director Granger resigns, will take federal court job | Montgomery Advertiser

Feb 152011

A Montgomery official who has headed the county’s emerging election center since its inception has accepted a job with the federal court system, but his absence is not expected to affect the two upcoming city elections. Trey Granger has been director of the Montgomery Election Center since the office was created in 2005, but he notified county officials on Thursday that he would be leaving his post to become deputy chief clerk for the Middle District of Alabama. Granger said he would likely begin his new job by the first of March. He will report to Clerk of Court Debra Hackett, who did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.

www.montgomeryadvertiser.com… Center director Granger resigns will take federal court job

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