Title 17 — Title 17

A primary election, including a separate and special presidential preference primary election, within the meaning of this chapter, is an election held by the qualified voters who are members of any political party, for the purpose of nominating a candidate or candidates for publi…

The ballot of every voter shall be kept secret and inviolate. History: (Acts 1975, No. 1196, p. 2349, §23; §17-16-25; amended and renumbered by Act 2006-570, p. 1331, §59.)

(a) Primary elections for the purpose of determining the preferred candidates for President of the United States shall be held the first Tuesday in March each year in which a President is to be elected beginning in the year 2016. (b) Subject to rules and procedures of the politic…

The provisions of Section 17-9-3 and this chapter shall apply to presidential preference primaries held under the provisions of this article unless clearly inconsistent herewith or inappropriate for the conduct of a presidential preference primary. Any political party holding a p…

In order to qualify the name of any person to appear on the ballot at a presidential preference primary, a petition or petitions in support of his or her candidacy shall be filed with the state party chair of the appropriate political party, hereinafter referred to as “chair,” 11…

No candidate shall be allowed to have his or her name placed on the ballot at a presidential preference primary unless there shall be paid to the chair, at the time of filing his or her qualifying petition, such fee as the party may prescribe. History: (Code 1975, §17-18A-4; Acts…

Whenever the chair shall receive petitions, timely filed, which appear to qualify the name of a candidate for President to be placed on the ballot, he or she shall forthwith notify the prospective candidate by the most expeditious means of communication and shall advise such pros…

Each political party authorized to hold a primary and wishing to hold such a presidential preference primary shall, not less than 116 days before such primary is to be held, adopt and file with the Secretary of State a resolution stating that intention, the method by which electo…

A candidate who has qualified may have a single watcher in the polling place, to be appointed in writing over his or her own signature, and the appointment shall be presented to and filed with the inspectors. Subsections (b), (c), and (d) of Section 17-8-7 apply to watchers appoi…

The inspector shall perform the duty of precinct returning officer as in general elections, unless someone else has been named and designated as authorized by law. It shall be the duty of the inspector or the duty of such returning officer as may be otherwise legally named and de…

(a) At the close of the primary election at each voting place, and nowhere else, the inspectors and clerks shall proceed forthwith, without adjournment, in the manner provided by law in the case of general elections, to count the votes. This section shall not apply to provisional…

Materials; Posting of Certificate of Result. (a) No ballot shall be counted until the polls are closed; and, before counting any ballot or examining the same, the voters’ poll list, as provided in Section 17-9-15, shall be securely sealed in an envelope designated to the appropri…

Be Opened. After the result has been canvassed and declared by the county executive committee, the sheriff shall securely keep the voted ballots container and the records of election container in accordance with state and federal law. The voted ballots container and records of el…

Results. The counting of the ballots having been completed, the results shall be publicly proclaimed. Separate certificates for each of the political parties entering the primary and the results of the election shall be drawn up by the inspector and clerks at each and every votin…

The county executive committee of the party or parties participating in the primary election shall meet at the courthouse of its county, not later than noon on Tuesday next following the primary election, and receive the returns, canvass and tabulate the same, by precincts, and p…

Primary Election; Certification of Results. (a) At the respective meetings of the respective executive committees, the county executive committee, as to candidates in the primary election for office, except candidates for county office, shall publicly ascertain, determine, and de…

In the event either of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first primary election shall determine not to enter the second primary election provided for in this chapter, the candidate, as soon as possible and not more than three days after holding of th…

Primary Elections. All primary elections held by any political party in this state for the nomination of any state, national, district, circuit, county, or municipal officer shall be held and conducted under the provisions of this chapter and, except as herein modified, shall be …

If a nominee for a single office is to be selected, with more than one candidate, then the majority of votes cast for the office in such election shall be ascertained by dividing the total votes cast for all candidates for the office by two, and any number of votes in excess of o…

If, in any primary election held under the provisions of this chapter, there shall be a tie vote cast, then such tie shall be decided by the chair of the state executive committee, if the office is an office other than a county office, and by the chair of the county executive com…

The Secretary of State, not later than 69 days before the general election, shall certify to the judge of probate of each county in the state a separate list of nominees of each party for office and for each candidate who has requested to be an independent candidate and has filed…

The state executive committee, in cases where the office to be filled is not a county office, and the county executive committee, in cases where the office to be filled is a county office, but subject to the approval of and in accordance with the method prescribed by the state ex…

Any voter in this state who votes more than once, or attempts to vote more than once, in any primary election held in this state, or who votes in both this state and another state or territory in the same or equivalent election, shall be punished in the same manner as provided fo…

Any person who shall change or in any wise alter the returns of any primary election, or remove the copy of the returns posted at any polling place before the result of the election is announced by the committee or governing authority, shall be punished in the same form and manne…

The sheriff of each county on the day of such primary election shall be present in person or by deputy at each election precinct or voting district where such elections are held, and shall preserve good order. All duties imposed and powers conferred upon the sheriff in county and…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (d), primary elections held at the expense of the state or counties shall be held on the Tuesday in May preceding Memorial Day. When necessary, as provided in this chapter, a second or runoff primary election shall be held o…

The compensation of officers and other expenses of any and all primary elections, general or special, held under the provisions of this chapter, shall be paid in the same manner and to the same extent as is or may be provided by law for the payment of the expenses and officers of…

An assemblage or organization of electors which, at the general election for state and county officers then next preceding the primary, casts more than 20 percent of the entire vote cast in any county is hereby declared to be a political party within the meaning of this chapter w…

In determining the total vote of a political party whenever required by this chapter, the test shall be the total vote received by a candidate of that party who received the highest vote total of any of the candidates of that party. History: (Acts 1975, No. 1196, p. 2349, §3; §17…

Primary elections are not compulsory. A political party may, by its state executive committee, elect whether it will come under the primary election law. All political parties are presumed to have accepted and come under the provisions of the primary election law, but any politic…

Political parties may provide for the selection of delegates to national conventions by the holding of a presidential preference primary or by popular election of the delegates or otherwise. In the event a presidential preference primary is called by the governing body of any par…

There may be provided a committee of each party for the state and each political subdivision of the state, including counties, the committees to be selected in such manner as may be provided for by the governing authority of each party, but if there shall not be elected or chosen…

The state or county executive committee of any political party may, by a majority vote of the committee, require that members of the committee be elected by the qualified electors of such political party. If such committee adopts an appropriate resolution requiring that such memb…

When the governing body of any political party desires to enter the primary election ordered to be held under this chapter, the governing body for the state shall give public notice thereof by filing a copy of the resolution of such governing body with the Secretary of State of A…

The governing body of a party may fix assessments upon those able to pay, or other qualifications as it may deem necessary, for persons desiring to become candidates for nomination to offices at a primary election, but such assessments shall not exceed two percent of one year’s s…

Each candidate for nomination may, at least 45 days before the primary, present to the county executive committee of his or her party a list of election officials desired by him or her for any one or more of the districts, wards, or precincts, and the county committee, so far as …

The state executive committee or other governing body of any political party may provide for state conventions or conventions of other subdivisions and may provide for the election of delegates to such convention or other party officials at the general primary herein provided for…

Candidates; Preparation of Ballots; Unopposed Candidates. (a) All candidates for nomination to public office or for election to party office in the primary election provided for in this chapter shall file their declaration of candidacy with the state party chair if they seek any …

Officers, Etc. (a) When any political party shall desire to hold any mass meeting, beat meeting, or other meeting of the voters of such party for the purpose of nominating any candidate or candidates for public office to be voted for in a general election in Alabama or for the pu…

Sections 17-13-50 and 17-17-50 shall not apply where a special election is called for the election of a public officer for which the party has no candidate or where, by death, resignation, or otherwise, a vacancy has occurred in any nomination made by such party. Sections 17-13-5…

The certificate of nomination by any caucus, convention, mass meeting, or other assembly of any political party or faction in this state not conducting a primary election at the expense of the state shall be filed on or before 5:00 P.M. of the primary election day to certify thei…

The name of no candidate shall be printed upon any official ballot used at any primary election unless such person is legally qualified to hold the office for which he or she is a candidate and unless he or she is eligible to vote in the primary election in which he or she seeks …

Signing Poll List. (a) All persons who are qualified electors under the general laws of the State of Alabama and who are also members of a political party and entitled to participate in such primary election under the rules of the party shall be entitled to vote therein and shall…

(a) If an elector votes in a primary election, he or she may vote in a subsequent primary runoff election only if he or she voted in the primary election of the same political party for which the runoff election is being held. (b) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules to …

Any contest to a nomination made by primary election must be filed within 24 hours after the results of the primary election have been declared, weekends excluded, under the same conditions and on the same grounds as provided in the laws of Alabama for general elections of state …

The contests of nomination by a party for office, other than a county office, may be instituted by any qualified elector of the state, or of the political subdivision, as the case may be, who belongs to that party and who legally participated in such primary election, upon the fo…

None of the grounds of contest enumerated in Section 17-13-71 shall serve to annul or set aside any declared nomination, unless such ground alone or in conjunction with other of such grounds alleged shall serve to show to the reasonable satisfaction of the committee trying the co…

When a contest of a nomination is instituted or where a special primary to nominate is held as provided for in this chapter, the declared nominee for such office shall not be certified until after termination of the contest filed in the time herein prescribed. History: (Acts 1931…

In the hearing of any contest before any committee or subcommittee under the provisions of this article, such committee, through its chair, or through such other authority as may be designated, shall have authority to summon witnesses to appear before it, or before any subcommitt…

Any person examined as a witness on a contest of a nomination may be required to answer as to whether he or she voted at the primary and touching his or her qualification to vote thereat and to answer for whom he or she voted in the race concerned in the contest. A person who swe…