Title 17 — Title 17

Elections. All of the provisions of this title shall apply to all primary elections and all elections by counties or municipalities held in this state, except in cases where the provisions of this title are inconsistent or in conflict with the provisions of a law governing specia…

For the purposes of this title, the following terms shall have the definitions ascribed to them: (1) APPOINTING BOARD. In all elections the appointing board consists of the judge of probate, circuit clerk, and sheriff of the county. (2) BALLOT. The term includes paper ballots and…

(a) The Secretary of State is the chief elections official in the state and shall provide uniform guidance for election activities. The Secretary of State is granted rule making authority for the implementation of Chapter 2 under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act. (b) The …

Activities. (a)(1) No person in the employment of any city, whether classified or unclassified, shall be denied the right to participate in city, county, or state political activities to the same extent as any other citizen of the State of Alabama, including endorsing candidates …

Each employee in the state shall, upon reasonable notice to his or her employer, be permitted by his or her employer to take necessary time off from his or her employment to vote in any municipal, county, state, or federal political party primary or election for which the employe…

(a) Ranked-choice voting shall not be used in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal office. (b) As used in this section, the term “ranked-choice voting” means a voting method that allows electors to rank candidates for an office i…

There is established a separate trust fund in the State Treasury to be known as the Help America Vote Fund. All state and federal monies designated in accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and accrued interest are to be deposited into this fund. The receipts shall be …

327) [Effective until October 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-327, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. (a) There is established, pursuant to Section 254 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, a state plan to provide for the implementation of that act. There shal…

The Secretary of State, by administrative rule, shall establish procedures for the review of complaints regarding the administration of Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. These procedures shall meet the following requirements: (1) Any person who believes there has be…

Purchase of Equipment. (a) On or before January 1, 2005, each voting system used in an election shall meet the following requirements: (1) The voting system shall: a. Permit the voter to verify, in a private and independent manner, the votes selected by the voter on the ballot be…

The Secretary of State may promulgate rules for the receipt of applications for registration and the expedient administration of those applications, but no person shall be registered until a majority of the board of registrars has passed favorably upon the person’s qualifications…

Personnel of Boards. All county governing bodies are authorized and directed to expend county funds for supplies, equipment, telephone service, office space, and clerical help as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. Any clerical personnel who…

(a) The board of registrars in each county shall visit each college or university, whether public or private, having an enrollment of 500 or more, which is located therein, at least once during the school year for the purpose of registering voters, and shall remain there for one …

Each member of the board of registrars shall receive sixty dollars ($60) per day, for each day’s attendance upon the special sessions of the board required under this article; but if such special session is held on the same day a regular session is required to be held under the l…

(a) A county commission, upon the adoption of a resolution, may increase the per diem compensation paid to each member of the county board of registrars without the necessity of enacting a local law of authorization, provided that no state funds shall be used for such additional …

(a)(1) Registration shall be conducted in each county by a board of three reputable and suitable individuals to be appointed, unless otherwise provided by law, by the Governor, Auditor, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, or by a majority of them acting as a state boa…

The registrars appointed under this article may be removed for cause by the Secretary of State at any time before the end of their term of office, upon submitting written reasons therefor to the registrar removed and to the members of the state board of appointment. If not so rem…

Any person possessing the qualifications of an elector set out in Article 8 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as modified by federal law, and not laboring under any disqualification listed therein, shall be an elector, and shall be entitled to register and to vote at any el…

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Felony Voter Disqualification Act. (b)(1) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following: a. That Section 177 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, provides that Alabama citizens shall lose the right to vote when…

Eligibility. Any person who is disqualified by reason of conviction of any of the offenses mentioned in Article VIII of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, except treason and impeachment, whether the conviction was had in a state or federal court, and who has been pardoned, may …

No person shall lose or acquire a domicile either by temporary absence from his or her domicile without the intention of remaining or by navigating any of the waters of this state, the United States, or the high seas, without having acquired any other lawful domicile, or by being…

Precincts. When the dwelling of any person is located partly in two or more counties, districts, or precincts, such persons may select the county, district, or precinct of their domicile, and to that end may file a statement in writing in the office of the judge of probate of the…

Precincts. Any person who lives on a line between counties, districts, or precincts, and shall have fixed his or her citizenship according to law and that may be hereafter provided in such cases, shall be construed a citizen and elector of the county, district, or precinct in whi…

If one or more of the persons appointed on such board of registrars shall refuse, neglect, or be unable to qualify to serve, or if a vacancy or vacancies occur in the membership of the board of registrars, from any cause, the Governor, Auditor, and Commissioner of Agriculture and…

Employees. (a) Each registrar shall receive a salary in the amount of one hundred fifteen dollars ($115) per day for each day’s attendance upon business of the board, to be paid by the state and disbursed to the county commissions and disbursed by the county commissions to each r…

The boards of registrars in the several counties of the state shall not register any person as a qualified elector within 14 days prior to any election; provided, that the boards shall maintain open offices during business days in such 14-day period and on election day during the…

The registrars shall issue to each person registered a certificate of registration. When voting precinct boundaries and voting locations are changed, new certificates of registration shall be issued before the date of the election on which the changes are to take effect. History:…

The board of registrars shall have power to examine, under oath or affirmation, all applicants for registration, and to take testimony touching the qualifications of such applicants, but no applicant shall be required to answer any question, written or oral, not related to his or…

Political parties, as defined in Section 17-13-40, may obtain all voter registration information, except for voters’ Social Security numbers and month and day of birth, in the possession of boards of registrars or judges of probate concerning registered voters in their jurisdicti…

Any person making application to the board of registrars for registration who fails to establish by evidence to the reasonable satisfaction of the board of registrars that he or she is qualified to register, may be refused registration. The board shall give written notice to each…

Any person to whom registration is denied shall have the right of appeal, without giving security for costs, within 30 days after such denial, by filing a petition in the probate court in the county in which he or she seeks to register, alleging that he or she is a citizen of the…

No person heretofore registered and no person hereafter registered shall again be required to register unless he or she has changed the county of his or her domicile, or was convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense and was subsequently pardoned with restoration of the right …

The Secretary of State shall furnish to each board of registrars the necessary forms and supplies for effectuating the purposes of this chapter, and the expense incurred thereby shall be paid by the state. The cost of the publication of the notices required to be given by the reg…

Every qualified elector of the State of Alabama whose domicile is in territory which has been detached from one county and added to an adjoining county of the State of Alabama shall be entitled to have his or her name added to the list of the qualified electors of the county to w…

The following persons shall be entitled to register to vote by mail if they possess the qualifications of an elector and are not disqualified from voting under the Constitution and laws of Alabama: Members of the Armed Forces of the United States, persons employed outside the Uni…

Before entering upon the performance of the duties of office, each registrar shall take the same oath as required by the judicial officers of the state, which oath may be administered by any person authorized to administer oaths. The oath shall be in writing, subscribed by the re…

The judge of probate may employ such assistants and clerical help as may be necessary to complete and properly prepare reports from the state voter registration list of the list of qualified electors which the judge of probate is required to furnish a certified copy to the electi…

The action of a majority of the board of registrars shall be the action of the board, and a majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business. History: (Code 1907, §314; Acts 1920, No. 78, p. 124; Code 1923, §383; Code 1940, T. 17, §34; Code 1975…

Sessions. (a) Each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Dallas, Escambia, Geneva, Lowndes, Perry, Sumter, and Wilcox may meet a maximum of 120 working days each fiscal year; each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Barbour, …

Another Registrar. Upon receiving the written consent and approval of the county commission and consistent with the annual maximum number of working days authorized under Section 17-3-8, a quorum of a board of registrars of a county may reallocate unused working days from one reg…

Where there are two or more courthouses in any county, the board of registrars shall divide the time as appropriate between the courthouses for the purpose of holding regular sessions for registering voters and shall give notice accordingly. History: (Code 1907, §310; Acts 1920, …

The judge of probate shall publish from the state voter registration list a correct alphabetical list of qualified electors either by county, precinct, district, or subdivision wherein each elector is registered to vote, in some newspaper with general circulation in the county, o…

The names of persons in the county to be struck from the list of registered voters shall be listed by precinct and in alphabetical order and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for two consecutive weeks in November or December of each year in…

The board shall not remove the name of any elector, known by any member of the board, or made known to the board by another qualified elector, or duly representative of the elector whose name is to be stricken, to be a legal resident of the county not known to be suffering from a…

Failure to Reidentify Not Permanent Disqualification. When the name of any elector is struck from the registration list, the records maintained by the board of registrars must show the reason for striking the elector from the list. No such person whose name is removed from the li…

Limitation of Provisions. Any qualified elector of the county whose name is omitted or removed from the list of qualified electors for failure to appear and reidentify himself or herself and who has not otherwise been reidentified as herein provided shall be entitled to have his …

The Secretary of State shall maintain a permanent list of all qualified electors which shall include the electors’ county, precinct, voting history, race, and other information required in Sections 17-4-33 and 17-4-36. History: (Acts 1984, No. 84-389, p. 896, §8; Act 2003-313, p.…

The board of registrars, when registration is closed before a primary, general, or special election, shall certify to the Secretary of State any additions, deletions, corrections, or changes to the state voter registration list. Except as provided in Section 17-4-2.1, after regis…

(a) The Secretary of State may allow the use of electronic poll books in lieu of the printed lists of qualified voters provided for in Section 17-4-2 and the poll lists provided for in Sections 17-9-11 and 17-13-7. A county, with consent of the county commission and judge of prob…

(a) Each county board of registrars shall purge the computerized statewide voter registration list on a continuous basis, whenever it receives and confirms information that a person registered to vote in that county has died, become a nonresident of the state or county, been decl…