Virginia Martin

Biden Wins Presidency

Joe Biden has won election as president of the United States, defeating incumbent Donald Trump in a combative campaign set against the backdrop of a pandemic and racial unrest. The Associated Press called the race for Biden Saturday morning, four days after Election Day, when it put Pennsylvania into his ‘win’ column. Votes still are being counted in many states, but Biden appears to have reached a tipping point in the race for electoral votes that Trump cannot overcome. Read more.

Ivey Extends Mask Mandate Through Dec. 11

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Thursday that she is extending the state’s public health order through Dec. 11. This means residents will still be required to wear face masks in public, and when in close contact to others, to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Read more.

As More Students Return to School, Officials Brace for ‘Rolling Blackouts’

Following the release of a new dashboard, state education officials are optimistic about the number of coronavirus cases in Alabama schools. But challenges remain. Read more.

Rising Numbers of New COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations and Positivity Rates in Alabama Over Past Week

The number of Alabama patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 has continued to rise in the past seven days, as has the count of people testing positive each day. In BirminghamWatch’s weekly analysis of data reported by the Alabama Department of Public Health, hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients surpassed 1,000 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the 7-day moving average is just under the thousand mark. Tuesday’s report of 1,047 hospitalizations was a jump of 80 over the day before and reached a level not seen since Aug. 27. However, it’s still lower by more than 35% than the high of 1,613 hospitalized patients set Aug. 6. Read more.

Mostly Smooth Sailing in Tuesday’s Election Except for Long Lines at Some Precincts

Jefferson County Board of Registrars Chairman Barry Stephenson said Wednesday that Tuesday’s election ran smoothly with “a few minor glitches,” despite long lines at most precincts. Those standing in one of those long lines in Vestavia Hills had some unexpected entertainment to help pass the time. Voters reported a middle-aged man dressed in a baby costume with a large Trump head cavorting across the street. “I just told them that as long as he was not too close to the polls, they were on their own,” Stephenson said. Earlier on Tuesday, he said, “We had one instance of over-zealous campaign workers, closer than 30 feet (from the polling place). We backed them up, and that was it.” That occurred in Tarrant City. Stephenson said that the county will be looking at adding precincts to remedy the long lines. “This year we were having to deal with COVID, as well,” he said. On the state level, Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill said absentee votes were still being counted in some counties as of late Wednesday. Already, the state has broken its previous record for the sheer number of people who voted. Read more. More election coverage from BirminghamWatch

Trump Sweeps Alabama, Tuberville Ousts Jones for Senate Seat

2020 Voter Guide

Who Won the Votes in Alabama and Jefferson County?

Unofficial results as of 8:45 a.m. Most counties reported 100% of the votes had been counted. In Jefferson County, 98.29% of the boxes had been counted.   President: Joseph R. Biden (D): 36.26% Donald J. Trump (R): 62.34% Jorgensen (I): 1.10%   U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D): 39.43% Tommy Tuberville (R): 60.40%   Public Service

Voters Change Constitution With Votes for Five Amendments

Five of the six statewide amendments on Alabama’s ballot passed Tuesday, with another one that proposed several changes to ethics oversight in the state judiciary being too close to call early Wednesday morning. Most of the measures, including one to “recompile” the constitution to remove racist language and two others establishing county-specific “stand your ground” laws for churches, passed easily. Read more.

Tuberville Reclaims Senate Seat for the Republicans

Tommy Tuberville defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Jones in Tuesday’s election, reclaiming Alabama’s junior Senate seat for Republicans after the party’s surprise loss in a special election three years ago. With 65 of 67 counties reporting at midnight, Tuberville had 62% of the vote to Jones’ 38%.   Tuberville, a former head football coach for Auburn University, had easily defeated the seat’s previous occupant, Jeff Sessions, in July’s Republican runoff. From there, he shifted to a minimalist campaign approach, eschewing debates and mostly avoiding public and media appearances, counting on his name recognition and Alabama’s deep-rooted conservative politics to push him to victory. Even in the primary, his campaign was painted in broad strokes. Tuberville portrayed himself as a loyalist to President Donald Trump, echoing his promises to “drain the swamp” – i.e., remove corruption from Washington — and to “build the wall” along America’s border with Mexico. When he appeared onstage Tuesday night to give his acceptance speech, he promised supporters that his first term as senator would “be guided by our shared values, conservative values, and I will vote for the majority people of the state of Alabama and not for a party like Doug Jones did.” Read more.

Long Voter Line Spurs Good Samaritans to Action

While some people are concerned solely with who wins on Election Day, Deb and Charlie O’Hara were worried about people they didn’t know in neighboring Jefferson County at Legion Field. The residents of unincorporated North Shelby County cast their ballots about two days ago, but they couldn’t sit idle as they saw others performing their civic duty in a television report this morning. The thought of them enduring the hot sun or freezing cold – “We weren’t sure which one it was going to be,” – spurred the couple to action. “We saw the line this morning here. They showed it on the news, a big, long line,” Deb O’Hara said. “We just went over to Costco and bought a bunch of snacks and stuff and bottled water. We just thought we’d give it out. We just wanted to do something nice for people.”

Report Problems at the Polls

BirminghamWatch has partnered with ProPublica to offer Alabama voters the opportunity to notify us if problems arise at the polls. Read more.