Alabama: Secretary of State: Direct mail voting would be costly, problematic | Ed Howell/Daily Mountain Eagle

Secretary of State John Merrill said direct mail voting as some states now do would cost an extra $41 million and would invite problems making sure voters were eligible.  In a phone interview Friday, Merrill also talked about efforts to keep polling sites clean due to COVID-19 during the July 14 runoff primary and how easy it would be to get an absentee ballot because of the cornonavirus. As of today – Tuesday, June 9 – the  state is now officially a month away from the July 9 deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the runoff, which was delayed from March due to the COVID-19 virus. Merrill pointed out the last day to register to vote for the runoff is June 29. The deadline for returning the ballot in person and the last day to postmark a ballot are both July 13.  Under the state of emergency for the COVID pandemic, Merrill is encouraging voters concerned about catching the virus at the polls to check the box which reads, “I have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents my attendance at the polls. [ID REQUIRED]”

Alabama: Largest cities pressure lawmakers on ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting | John Sharp/ AL.com

Three of Alabama’s largest cities are poised to adopt resolutions arguing in favor of no-excuse absentee voting even as the state marches toward this year’s elections with the excuse provision in place. Mobile could join Birmingham and Huntsville on Tuesday in supporting similarly-worded resolutions that supports an option for residents to vote absentee during the coronavirus pandemic without having to submit an excuse as to why they are not showing up physically at the polls on Election Day. “What we want to do is ensure that those who have underlying health conditions and those who are of the senior population are not fearful of engaging in the democratic process,” said Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie. The timing of the resolutions is likely not going to matter during this year’s elections, and the Alabama Republican Party says they “lack teeth.” The runoff contests are scheduled for July 14, followed by the general election on Nov. 3. A majority of Alabama cities are also scheduled to have mayoral and council elections on Aug. 25. The Alabama Legislature is not scheduled to meet until the spring of 2021.

Alabama: League of Women Voters of Alabama sue over voting amid COVID-19 pandemic | Eddie Burkhalter/Alabama Political Reporter

The League of Women Voters of Alabama on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Gov. Kay Ivey, Secretary of State John Merrill and several Montgomery County election officials asking the court to expand Alabama’s absentee voting and relax other voting measures amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The nonprofit is joined in the suit by 10 plaintiffs who range in age from 60 to 75, many of whom have medical conditions that put them at greater risk for serious complications or death from COVID-19. “Voting is a right, not a privilege, and elections must be safe, accessible, and fairly administered,” the League of Women Voters of Alabama said in a press release Thursday. “Alabama’s Constitution specifically requires that the right to vote be protected in times of ‘tumult,’ clearly including the current pandemic.” Currently, to vote absentee in Alabama, a person must send a copy of their photo ID and have their ballot signed by a notary or two adults. The lawsuit asks the court to require state officials to use emergency powers to waive the notary or witness requirement, the requirement to supply a copy of a photo ID and to extend no-excuse absentee voting into the fall.

Alabama: Push for no-excuse absentee voting going nowhere | Sara Macneil/Alabama Daily News

The Alabama Senate approved Tuesday a resolution that says it’s “imperative to the democratic process to propose and adopt” no-excuse absentee voting, but the passage of actual legislation to loosen restrictions on the ballots seems unlikely in the GOP-controlled body. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, filed a bill Monday that would authorize no-excuse absentee voting. Smitherman’s Senate Bill 335 strikes out the list of excuses that qualify a voter for an absentee ballot, and deletes a section of state law that says they must have one of those excuses to apply for an absentee ballot. Alabamians go to the polls July 14 for primary runoffs. The election date was delayed in March because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. Smitherman this week said he needs to rush the no excuse voting bill into committee during the shortened session, so he had no time to consult with his Republican colleagues. His bill was assigned to the Governmental Affairs Committee, which has no meetings scheduled this week.

Alabama: Lawsuit seeks to expand Alabama voting options amid outbreak | Brian Lyman/Montgomery Advertiser

Three civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to loosen some absentee voting requirements and overturn bans on curbside voting amid the COVID-19 outbreak.  The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) filed the lawsuit on behalf of several plaintiffs, including four voters with medical conditions that would leave them vulnerable to COVID-19 if required to vote in-person. “This burden on the right to vote will fall more heavily upon certain groups—older people, persons with disabilities, and Black Alabamians, among others,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit names Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey; Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and 4 county election officials as defendants. Ivey and Merrill’s offices said in separate statements on Friday afternoon that they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Alabama: Gov. Kay Ivey postpones March 31 runoff because of coronavirus | Mike Cason/AL.com

Gov. Kay Ivey has postponed the March 31 primary runoff because of the coronavirus pandemic until July 14. Ivey cited the risk to voters and poll workers in making the decision to delay the March 31 runoff. “We would be taking a human health risk just by having people stand in line waiting to vote,” the governor said. “I’m also aware that our faithful poll workers are often retired and among those who have the highest risk of the disease.” Ivey made the announcement in a press conference this morning with Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and Attorney General Steve Marshall. New dates for pre-election deadlines, such as sending in absentee ballots are being announced. The governor announced her decision one day after Marshall issued an opinion that she had the authority to postpone the election under the state’s Emergency Management Act. Marshall issued the opinion after a request from Merrill.

Alabama: Attorney general says runoff election can be postponed, rescheduled | Eddie Burkhalter/AL Reporter

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued an opinion Tuesday that Gov. Kay Ivey can reschedule the March 31 runoff election and the secretary of state can certify the results. Alabama’s Secretary of State John Merrill had asked for Marshall’s opinion, as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the state, prompting concern over exposing the public at voting precincts. In his opinion, Marshall writes that when Gov. Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency on March 13 she acquired “substantial powers” and “has the authority to postpone a primary runoff election to protect the public health and safety during the proclaimed emergency.”

Alabama: Concerns over new voting machines in Mobile & Baldwin counties | James Gordon/WPMI

Alabama voters head back to the polls in less than two months for the primary elections. NBC 15 News investigated whether hackers can get into the new touch screen machines you’ll use in Mobile and Baldwin county. Alabama’s Secretary of State John Merrill answered some of our questions as to the security of the machines in the next election. Both Mobile and Baldwin County voting machines that were more than a decade old have been replaced with Express Vote machines and the state has established what’s called a “cyber navigator program.” “We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to help all 67 counties in the state, ” said Merrill.

Alabama: County voting machines now outdated | Ed Howell/Daily Mountain Eagle

Walker County is one of seven counties in the state with election tabulation machines that are not even manufactured anymore, leaving county officials agreeing that they will have to be replaced soon. Walker County Probate Judge A. Lee Tucker said Thursday that it looks like the machines, which accept paper ballots during elections, cannot be replaced in time for the 2020 elections. However, he said that the machines are tested and currently work. Currently the county has 45 precincts, not counting absentee and provisional ballots. Machines will have to be replaced in all those election sites, plus provisions made for machines to help the disabled. A total of 76 M100 machines and another 45 machines for the disabled are currently used in Walker County, he said. Tucker said some precincts use more than one machine, and extras are also needed sometimes when a machine breaks down.  The reactions come after a national election security report, “Defending Elections,” was published last week by the Brennan Center for Justice noting states need more federal funding to prevent outside cyber threats against elections.

Alabama: Report says aging voting machines a concern in Alabama | Mike Cason/al.com

A report published Thursday on election security says states need more federal money to safeguard elections from outside threats. It says Alabama election officials cited a need to replace voting machines used in most counties that are more than a decade old and to establish a “cyber navigator program” to help local officials protect their systems. “Defending Elections: Federal Funding Needs for State Election Security,” attached at the end of this article, outlines how Alabama and five other states are using their shares of $380 million Congress provided to states for election security last year. Alabama’s allocation was $6.5 million, including the required 5 percent state match. The report was written by the Brennan Center for Justice; R Street; Pitt Cyber, the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security; and the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The report said Russian hackers penetrated computer networks in two counties in Florida in 2016 by obtaining information from a software vendor. A gap opened by the same vendor might have allowed hackers to tamper with voter rolls in North Carolina, the report says. “Efforts like these undermine faith in our democratic system, and steps must be taken to prevent them from occurring again,” the report says.

Alabama: Alabama failed to spend federal grants for election security | WALA

With looming fears of foreign interference in last year’s midterm elections, Congress rushed to send almost $6.2 million to help Alabama secure its voting system. But the state did not spend a dime of it, according to a report this month from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which disbursed the funds. The money came from the so-called omnibus spending bill approved in March 2018. But Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said the money did not come in time to spend before the November midterm election. In order to spend federal grant money, he told FOX10 News, the state has to going through a competitive bidding process and get companies on an approved vendor list, among other requirements. “That’s an arduous process, at best,” he said. “We’re not gonna get in a hurry because someone thinks we should be in a hurry to spend it.”

Alabama: After Midterms, will Alabama reform the way you vote? | al.com

Long lines, voting machine malfunctions, and untrained poll workers scattered throughout the state. Alabama, on November 6, had its share of Election Day problems similar to what other states experienced. Georgia and Florida had reportedly lines that lasted as long as waiting to get on a ride at Six Flags, according to media reports. Cries about voter “suppression” or “fraud” in each state — depending on a critic’s partisan leanings — have erupted ever since Election Day. “Elections are an incredibly complicated process and there are so many moving parts for it all to go right on Election Day,” said Richard Fording, a political science professor at the University of Alabama. “There will inevitably be mistakes made.” But almost as common as election-related snafus are the subsequent calls for reform. And in Alabama, there will be a push in 2019 for legislation to address some of the problems experienced on November 6.

Alabama: Lawsuit demands black student votes be counted in Alabama | al.com

Attorneys representing black students at Alabama A&M University filed a federal lawsuit Friday asking that the students’ votes in this week’s mid-term election be counted. As evidence, the lawsuit includes screen shots of the Alabama Secretary of State’s website showing the four students filing the lawsuit as ineligible the day of the election and eligible two days later. Secretary of State John Merrill is the state’s chief election officer responsible for the balloting, and the lawsuit names him and Madison County Board of Registrars Chairman Linda Hairston as defendants. It was filed in federal court in Huntsville Friday by the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. Hairston and Merrill declined comment early Friday afternoon.

Alabama: Purge of voter rolls creates stir in Alabama congressional race | Anniston Star

Since John Merrill took office as secretary of state, Alabama has purged 658,000 voters from its rolls, Merrill said Monday. Most of those voters are dead, convicted of felonies or moved out of state, Merrill says. But one Democratic candidate for Congress says the number of purged voters is far higher than it should be. “We’re not going to take this lying down,” said Jacob Ray, campaign manager for Mallory Hagan. Hagan is running as a Democrat for Alabama’s 3rd District seat in Congress, now held by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks. Last week, Hagan announced the creation of a “voter protection committee,” saying that 55,000 voters in the district had been disqualified or labeled inactive since February 2017.

Alabama: 11th Circuit Hears NAACP Challenge to Alabama Voter ID Law | Courthouse News

Attorneys representing a state NAACP chapter asked the 11th Circuit on Friday to throw out a district court ruling which dismissed their challenge to Alabama’s voter ID law without a trial. The Alabama NAACP, joined by Interfaith group Greater Birmingham Ministries and three individual voters, claims that the state’s photo voter identification law was specifically crafted by lawmakers to discriminate against thousands of black and Latino voters. In January, U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ruled that the 2011 law, which requires absentee and in-person voters to show photo ID in order to cast a ballot, is constitutional.

Alabama: Democratic Rep. John Knight handed GOP ballot, says voter list wrong | AL.com

State Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, got a surprise when he went to vote in the Democratic runoff at Alabama State University today. Knight, who is in a runoff with Sen. David Burkette for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 26, was told he could not vote in the Democratic runoff because he had voted in the Republican primary on June 5. “Which is crazy,” Knight said. “I was a candidate.” Knight said the chief inspector at the ASU polling place said other voters had experienced the same mixup.

Alabama: Seven Ways Alabama Has Made It Harder to Vote | The New York Times

Five years after the Supreme Court invalidated the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that certain states get federal approval to change their election laws, there are few places where the results are clearer than in Alabama, where the lawsuit began. Alabama has enacted a slew of restrictive laws and policies, many of whichdisproportionately affect African-Americans, Latinos and other marginalized groups. In this, it stands out only in degree, not in kind: All over the country, state legislators are making it harder to vote. State officials say the voting measures are intended to prevent election fraud. Here is the landscape of voting rights five years after the lawsuit, Shelby County v. Holder, through the lens of the state that started it. Within 24 hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Alabama announced that in 2014, it would start requiring photo identification to vote under a law passed in 2011 but stymied by the Voting Rights Act. The number of states with similar laws has since ballooned.

Alabama: Lawsuit at forefront of Census battle | Gadsden Times

Alabama thrust itself into an intense partisan confrontation last month when it filed a lawsuit opposing the counting of undocumented immigrants for congressional reapportionment purposes in the 2020 U.S. Census. Critics believe Alabama, much like the federal government through its decision to back a citizenship question on the 2020 forms, is aiming to “weaponize” the program for political gain. But backers of the lawsuit filed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, argue that the state is testing legal waters in an attempt to salvage one of the state’s seven congressional seats and one of its nine electoral votes.

Alabama: Secretary of State’s office: No estimate of Alabama voter ID need | Montgomery Advertiser

Secretary of State John Merrill said Thursday his office is doing all it can to respond to voter ID requests. But they don’t know the scope of the need in the state. The Secretary of State’s Office does not have estimates of the needs for voter ID cards among the more than 3 million registered voters in Alabama, and Merrill said Thursday they do not plan to. “We don’t want to expend our energies and resources in trying to identify that need when we’re trying to meet it each and every day,” he said.

Alabama: Some special elections would end under proposed amendment | Montgomery Advertiser

If the time is short, leave the seat empty. The House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would end special elections for legislative vacancies that take place 13 months before the next statewide general election. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rusty Glover, R-Semmes, got altered before passing the Senate last week. The proposal at first would have allowed the governor to appoint legislators to vacancies if there were less than two years remaining in the term. But Glover said that idea — which would expand the chief executive’s powers in a state government weighted toward the Legislature — faced a struggle.

Alabama: Thousands march across Edmund Pettus Bridge to pay homage to Bloody Sunday | The Selma Times‑Journal

Thousands of people marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday afternoon to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday — a day where marchers were beaten, tear gassed and trampled while fighting for the right to vote on March 7, 1965. Sunday’s march marked the end of the 25th annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, which started Thursday. Marchers came from across the country to walk across the same bridge as the foot soldiers of the voting rights movement, who helped change history. Vivianna Rodriguez came from Mobile, and this was her second time marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Her first time was when President Barack Obama came to Selma in 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Alabama: ‘No logic’ to Alabama’s special elections, which may be outlawed anyway | AL.com

Call it a political paradise if you live in certain places in Alabama and don’t miss an opportunity to cast a vote. The practicality of it all, however, remains questionable. Simply put, there are three special election cycles ongoing right now to fill vacancies in the Alabama legislature. But the winners of those races will not be elected until after the ongoing legislative session ends. And unless they are re-elected in the state’s regular 2018 election cycle, which begins with the June 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, they will leave office without ever casting a single vote as a state lawmaker. “There’s no logic to it but it doesn’t have anything to do with logic,” said John Merrill, the state’s top elections official as Secretary of State.

Alabama: Civil Rights Groups Appeal Alabama Voter ID Ruling | Associated Press

Civil rights groups are again challenging a federal judge’s ruling that an Alabama law requiring a government-issued photo ID for voting is not discriminatory. Legal counsel for the Alabama NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries and minority voters filed an appeal in the U.S. district court in northern Alabama on Wednesday. Since 2014, Alabama has required voters to show government-issued photo identification when they vote. The civil rights groups sued over the law in 2015, calling it discriminatory and an infringement on voting rights. They contended Alabama politicians knew when they enacted it that black and Latino voters “disproportionately lack the required photo ID.”

Alabama: Legislature pitches election reform measures following Senate election stunner | AL.com

Alabama lawmakers are pitching nearly two dozen pieces of legislation to retool the state’s elections process. The effort arrives ahead of a 2018 election that will see all of the state’s constitutional offices and legislative seats on the ballot. It also follows one of the major political upsets of modern era when Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in December’s special U.S. Senate contest. The most notable of the changes would eliminate future special U.S. Senate elections like the one that Jones won. Proponents say that this will save the state millions of dollars; opponents say it will subvert the democratic process. A floor fight could occur in the Alabama Senate next week.

Alabama: Transgender people sue Alabama over driver’s license policy | Reuters

Three transgender people sued an Alabama state agency on Tuesday, alleging its policy requiring proof of gender surgery to change the gender indicator on driver’s licenses was discriminatory. The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s policy denied transgender people access to identification, and applicants were forced to release medical information to get driver’s licenses. “Anyone who is eligible for a license should be able to get one that they can use without sacrificing their privacy, safety, health, autonomy or dignity,” ACLU lawyer Gabriel Arkles said on a conference call with reporters.

Alabama: Bill to eliminate Alabama Senate special elections advances | AL.com

A bill to eliminate special elections when there are vacancies in the U.S. Senate is in position for a vote in the Alabama House of Representatives next week. It comes in the wake of last year’s bruising battle to fill the seat Jeff Sessions left to become attorney general, won by Democrat Doug Jones. House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, said his bill to eliminate Senate special elections “has nothing to do with the personalities in last year’s election. It has everything to do with the cost to the General Fund.” Clouse said $11 million has been allocated to cover the cost of the three rounds of the special election to fill Sessions’ seat.

Alabama: Groups appeal dismissal of Alabama voter ID challenge | Associated Press

Advocacy groups are appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Alabama’ voter ID law. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler on Wednesday ruled in favor of the state, saying the provision does not discriminate against minorities and is not an undue infringement on the right to vote since the state makes free IDs available for voting purposes. “In Alabama, the law has no discriminatory impact because it does not prevent anyone from voting, not when free IDs are issued in every county, or at home, under conditions that any registered voter can meet,” Coogler wrote.

Alabama: NAACP Legal Defense Fund ‘disappointed,’ appealing judge’s dismissal of Alabama voter ID lawsuit | AL.com

Officials with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund on Friday filed a notice in court saying they are appealing Wednesday’s dismissal of the group’s lawsuit challenging Alabama’s voter ID laws. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ordered the lawsuit filed by Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama NAACP and individual plaintiffs against the State of Alabama be dismissed. “We are deeply disappointed by the judge’s ruling dismissing our case before trial,” said LDF President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill. “Over the course of two years, we have developed a sound case demonstrating that Alabama’s voter ID law is racially discriminatory. We had hoped to present our full case at trial next month.” The group filed the notice of appeal on Friday. 

Alabama: Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging Alabama voter ID law | AL.com

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement today about the U.S. District Court’s decision to dismiss a federal lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of Alabama’s voter ID law. Today, U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ordered the lawsuit filed by Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama NAACP and individual plaintiffs against the State of Alabama be dismissed. The lawsuit specifically targeted House Bill 19 of 2011, which requires absentee and in-person voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a regular ballot.

Alabama: ES&S caught up in Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore’s allegations of ‘election fraud’ | Omaha World Herald

An Omaha company on Thursday was caught up in an Alabama Senate candidate’s unsuccessful attempt to stop the state from certifying the results of a special election. Late Wednesday, Republican Roy Moore filed a legal complaint alleging “election fraud” and asked the state to consider holding a new election. The complaint was rejected by a judge, however, and a state board Thursday officially declared Doug Jones the winner of the Dec. 12 election. The complaint, filed in state court, mentions Election Systems & Software, an Omaha-based company that provides equipment, software and services for election support.