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Virginia Martin
Voters Encounter Long Lines, but Alabama Expects to Deliver Election Results by Wednesday
Long lines were reported at many polling places in the Birmingham area today, but no major problems were reported despite projects of a record voter turnout for the hotly contested presidential and U.S. Senate races. State and local officials said they expect to finish the vote count in Alabama by Wednesday morning. Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, said there had been no instances of serious problems. Voter turnout is predicted to hit 68% to 75%, corresponding to 2.5 million to 2.8 million people voting, according to Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill. The state already has seen a record number of absentee ballots returned — 300,402, as of Monday morning. Read more.
Senate Confirmation of Barrett for the Supreme Court
Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — Voting 52 for and 48 against, the Senate on Oct. 26 confirmed Amy Coney Barrett, 48, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett had been a federal appeals judge since 2018 and University of Notre Dame law professor starting in 2002. Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, R, voted to confirm Barrett; Sen. Doug Jones, D, voted against the confirmation. Read more.
Economy Shows Signs of Revival, New Opportunities in the Midst of COVID-19
There is sadness and economic disappointment in Alabama associated with the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, but some indicators are pointing to signs of revival, at least on the economic front. Total nonfarm payroll in metro Birmingham-Hoover indicates about 27,000 fewer workers employed in 2020 than had jobs in 2019, with 520,800 workers having jobs this year, according to government statistics. But overall, unemployment numbers have dropped for Alabama in recent months. According to Alabama Department of Labor statistics, the latest official unemployment rate for Alabama is 5.6%. That unemployment data has improved since August, when it was reported as 7.9%. As a comparison, U.S. unemployment data shows a current rate of 8.4%, down from 10.2% last month. Read more.
Voters’ FAQs
Information you'll need at the polls. Read more.
Birmingham Cancels Court Hearings Because of Rising Coronavirus Threat
Birmingham has postponed all in-person court appearances in its municipal courts beginning Monday because of rising COVID-19 cases. A statement released by the Municipal Court said scheduled appearances — including for hearings in misdemeanor, traffic and parking cases — have been postponed until further notice. Read more.
When a News Website Is Not Really a News Website
Apparently, I shouldn’t be wondering about the agenda of my city’s newly elected mayor or what improvements I can find at the renovated public library down the street. Apparently, I should be thinking instead about the awful “C” rating given to Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C., for poor fiscal management. Because that was the top story when I visited the news website of the South Birmingham Times on Thursday (and on Friday!) The site is one of nearly 1,300 pretend local news sites launched by a company called Metric Media in the past several years. That’s about twice as many as the nation’s largest newspaper chain. Alabama has 20 of them, according to The New York Times, with seemingly legitimate and neutral names such as the Tuscaloosa Leader, the Jefferson Reporter and the Decatur Times. Read more.
2020 BirminghamWatch Voter Guide
Voters head to the polls Nov. 3 for what could be a record-breaking election. At the top of the ticket is the Donald Trump-Joe Biden showdown for the White House. But Alabama also has to decide whom to send to the U.S. Senate, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, a Republican, or Sen. Doug Jones, who three years ago was the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama in 25 years. Also up for grabs are races for the Alabama Public Service Commission presidency and a seat on the state Board of Education. In Jefferson County, contested races also include a district court judgeship, deputy treasurer, tax assessor, assistant tax assessor and assistant tax collector. Voters also have six amendments to decide – seven in Shelby County. The BirminghamWatch 2020 Voter Guide gives you information to navigate through the voting process. You’ll find profiles of the candidates, an explanation of the amendments, printable sample ballots and information about voting and going to the polls. Read more. BirminghamWatch 2020 Voter Guide
Printable Sample Ballots for Jefferson and Shelby Counties
List of Candidates with Profiles
Your Guide to Alabama’s 2020 Constitutional Amendments
Voters' FAQs.
Jones Runs Aggressive Campaign to Maintain Senate Seat for the Democrats
With a Commanding Lead in Polls, Tuberville Shuns Media and Jones While Embracing Trump
Poll Watchers Have Strict Rules to Follow, and So Do Others at the Polls
Check your registration status, find your polling place and check the status of your absentee ballot
Hundreds Stand in Line to Vote Thursday, the Last Day to Apply for an Absentee Ballot
The line of absentee voters for Tuesday’s election was long and steady this morning outside the Park Place entrance to the Jefferson County Courthouse in Birmingham, with voters waiting up to an hour or more to enter the courthouse and proceed to the absentee vote manager’s office on the fifth floor. Today was the last day for Alabama voters to turn in absentee ballot applications to their county absentee voting manager, which in Jefferson County is the circuit clerk. Outside the courthouse in Birmingham, prospective voters were receiving numbered slips of paper that they needed to gain entry to the courthouse, and by 11:30 a.m., more than 400 had been given slips, with dozens waiting to get theirs. Read more.
After an Earlier Decline, COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Are on the Rise Again
Alabama’s COVID-19 case numbers had been declining recently, but that’s taken a turn for the worse in the past few weeks. Like much of the country, Alabama has seen increases in the moving averages of new cases per day, with the 7-day average now at 1,183.57 per day and the 14-day average at 1,147.57. Hospitalizations also have spiked to more than 1,000 for the first time in two months. The cumulative total of positive tests as of Wednesday had risen to 187,706. Of those, 160,380 are confirmed cases and the rest are listed as probable cases. The moving averages of new daily cases are now at their highest levels since early September, though they still are still well below the peaks of July. Read more.