Government

As Alabama Goes to the Polls, Worries Emerge That Some Are Denied Voting Rights

Since last year, Lorenzo French said, he’s helped about 50 people in rural Greene County regain their ability to vote. Many of them were improperly removed from voter rolls because they had a felony conviction, though not the type that should have banned them from voting, French said. Others didn’t have photo identification, a requirement to vote in Alabama since 2014. “That’s my job,” French, chair of the Greene County Democrats, said. “To find the people who can’t vote, find out why they can’t and reestablish them.” More Alabamians are registered to vote than ever before and more ballots were cast in this year’s gubernatorial primaries than in 2010 contests, but some pockets of the state have seen decreases, including Greene County and 10 others where there are now fewer black registered voters. That is because of changes in population, not policy, the state’s top election official said. Lecia Brooks, outreach director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said she also is concerned about technicalities keeping Alabamians from voting. Maybe their polling place changed or they’ve been placed on an inactive voter list. “They’re registered, they’re ready to vote and they show up on election day and they’re sent away,” she said. Changes — including the ID law, a decrease in polling places and purging of voter rolls — have been allowed without federal review since 2013, when in Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a portion of the federal voting rights law that required changes in voting procedures in some states and local governments to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. “All of these things would have had to be approved or given greater scrutiny,” Brooks said. Read more. Read more election-related coverage:

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The Year of Firsts: Freshman Candidates Find the Campaign Trail Grueling, Expensive and Rewarding

Just before the deadline closed, Cara McClure and Kari Powell submitted the paperwork to run for the Public Service Commission. They didn't know one another beforehand, but they ended up on a phone call just after the midnight deadline talking about their similar platforms and how, despite having never run for political office, they would each need to hit the ground running. Then the idea came to them: why not run as if they were on the same ticket? Doing so would let them pool resources and cover more ground as they canvassed throughout the state. The women decided that using an innovative approach to campaigning was the best way for them to go up against their seasoned opponents. McClure and Powell are just two of many people who entered the political fray for the first time this year and had to grapple with the question of how to campaign with little or no name recognition. The surge in first-time candidates is a national trend reflected in Alabama. Women, particularly black women, across the country qualified to run in record numbers this year. In Alabama, the Democratic Party had more people qualify to run for office in races up and down the ticket, with half again as many candidates signing on to run for seats in the Legislature than did in 2014, possibly inspired by Doug Jones’ victory in his race for the U.S. Senate in December. The Republican Party also had a bump in people wanting to run for office this year, perhaps in a desire to stave off the threat of a Democratic resurgence. Several first-time candidates interviewed by BirminghamWatch said the experience has shown them that campaigning is grueling, time-consuming work. Often lacking active party support, many of the first-timers turned to grassroots efforts to get out their messages. Universal among these first-timers was a confidence that they can make an impact using innovative approaches to reach voters despite financial challenges. Read more.

Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits Set off Alarm Bells in DA’s Office

So far, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative in Jefferson County has generated more questions than answers. The biggest question: How did 3,876 sexual assault kits not get submitted to the Department of Forensic Sciences for testing? “There's no way for me to know that yet,” said Michele Yarbrough, general counsel and business manager for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. The district attorney’s office was awarded a $1.5 million grant in October 2016 for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, an inventory of sexual assault kits in all 27 law enforcement jurisdictions in Jefferson County. That inventory yielded a finding that out of 4,999 kits, 3,876 were identified as having not been submitted for testing. “I would be lying if I said it did not set off every alarm bell in my system,” Yarbrough said. “As someone who is a woman and lives here in Jefferson County, it was extremely alarming to me.” Read more.

“It’s Just Plum Sad:” Ivey Disputes Reports of Health Issues, Chastises Maddox Campaign

TUSCALOOSA — Gov. Kay Ivey is again disputing that her health is an issue in her re-election campaign and called out her Democratic challenger for trying to make it one. Ivey released a statement from her doctor Tuesday that confirmed she did not suffer what some have characterized as a mini-stroke in 2015, while she was traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, as lieutenant governor. Dr. Brian Elrod said he examined her a day after she was discharged from a hospital. Ivey said she suffered “altitude illness” in Colorado, but she said her health is fine now. “The letter I released today from my doctor clearly confirms what I’ve been saying all along. I’m in good health,” Ivey, 74, said before her speech to the Tuscaloosa County Republicans at their Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, held at Bryant-Denny Stadium. “It’s just plum sad that Mayor (Walt) Maddox’s campaign is pushing this issue out just three weeks away from the election. It makes me have to assume that Mayor Maddox is desperate because his liberal record is not connecting with Alabamians.” Read more.

Crime Reduction Plan for Birmingham Coming Next Month

Several months after taking the job, Birmingham Police Chief Patrick D. Smith is expected to deliver a comprehensive plan for crime reduction to the City Council next month. The announcement of the plan was made at Tuesday’s council meeting by Cedric D. Sparks, Mayor Randall Woodfin’s chief of staff, in response to concerns expressed by the council about increasing rates of violent crime in the city. 2018 is on track to become the city’s deadliest year in decades. As of Oct. 16, Birmingham had logged 92 homicides in 2018, slightly ahead of the 87 homicides that had been reported at this point last year. By the end of 2017, Birmingham had a reported 117 homicides, the highest rate since 1995. Read more.

Vance Outpaces Parker in Attempt to Put a Democrat in the Chief Justice Seat

Robert Vance, the only Democratic statewide candidate to raise more money than a Republican opponent in this year’s general election, far out-distanced GOP nominee Tom Parker in collections and expenditures in early October. Vance listed itemized cash contributions of $140,985 for the period of Oct. 1-12, bringing his total for the campaign to $963,948, according to reports filed Monday with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. He has spent $831,027, including $570,888 so far in October, and reported an account balance of $132,920. Parker reported contributions of $1,050 and expenditures of $63,589 for the period. Since the election cycle began last year, Parker has raised $592,927 and spent $500,134, mostly toward winning the GOP primary earlier this year. He has an account balance of $119,425. Read more.

Siegelman Tops Marshall in October Fundraising, but Marshall’s Ahead in Campaign Spending for the AG Race

Democratic challenger Joseph Siegelman has raised more in campaign contributions than Republican incumbent Steve Marshall so far in October, according to reports filed Monday with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Siegelman, son of former Gov. Don Siegelman, reported that he took in contributions of $101,474 during the first 12 days of October. Marshall, bidding for his first full term as attorney general, reported contributions of $56,000. But Marshall far out-spent Siegelman during the period. The GOP nominee spent $106,316 to Siegelman’s $22,924. Read more.

Ivey’s Campaign Still Leads Maddox in Contributions With Three Weeks to Go in the Campaign

Gov. Kay Ivey continued to build her campaign warchest in early October, raising almost twice as much as Democratic challenger Walt Maddox, according to reports filed Monday with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Ivey, the Republican who is seeking her first full term as governor, reported itemized cash contributions of $194,133 from Oct. 1 to Oct. 12. Maddox raised $102,024 for the same period. That gave Ivey a total of $4.15 million in contributions since the campaign began last year, compared to $1.93 million for Maddox, who is mayor of Tuscaloosa. Read more. Read more stories about campaign financing in this year's election.

Vance Outpaces Parker in Attempt to Put a Democrat in the Chief Justice Seat

Ainsworth Stretches out Campaign Funding Lead in Lt Gov Race

Siegelman Tops Marshall in October Fundraising, but Marshall’s Ahead in Campaign Spending for the AG Race

Ainsworth Stretches out Campaign Funding Lead in Lt Gov Race

Republican William Ainsworth continues to dominate fundraising in the lieutenant governor’s race, collecting $146,500 in early October, compared to $2,880 for Democrat Will Boyd, according to weekly financial reports filed Monday with the Secretary of State’s Office. Read more.

UPDATED: Advisory Panel, JeffCo Air Pollution Expert Take on Controversial Role at EPA

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has appointed a Jefferson County air pollution expert to the seven-member panel charged with giving the agency administrator independent technical advice for setting federal standards under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler named Corey M. Masuca, principal air pollution control engineer for the Jefferson County Department of Health, to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee on Oct. 10. The CASAC will lead a review of recent science to advise whether any changes are necessary to the standards for ground-level ozone or particulate matter to provide public health with an adequate margin of safety. That panel may take on added importance with the EPA’s move last week to dismiss two larger outside advisory panels of scientists who were to evaluate emissions for harmful public health effects. Read more.