Government

This year’s Birmingham City Budget Finally Set for a Vote

Dec. 11, 2017 — Now that Mayor Randall Woodfin has had a chance to read and make comments on the budget, the Birmingham City Council is poised Tuesday to finally pass a budget for the 2018 fiscal year, which began on July 1. During a joint meeting of the council’s committee of the whole and its budget and finance committee, the council reviewed Woodfin’s proposed changes to the budget — labeled on a handout as the “Mayor’s Compromise.” After some discussion over Woodfin’s decision to cut funding to the Birmingham Construction Industry Authority, councilors indicated they were prepared to pass the budget during the Dec. 12 council meeting . Woodfin encouraged councilors to pass the budget Tuesday, saying that passing the budget would enable discussions for the FY 2019 budget to begin. “I’m ready to start having those conversations Wednesday,” he said. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

U.S. Senate Special Election

Heavy Traffic at Alabama’s Polls for Jones-Moore Race Today

Voters across the state are showing up at the polls today to choose between Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney, and Republican Roy Moore, a former Alabama chief justice. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has predicted turnout could be 25 percent, which would be higher than either the primaries or the Republican runoff. But several probate judges have said today that they are expecting higher turnout in their counties. Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, said about 1 p.m. that voting today is “progressing pretty well.” He said it’s running like a normal election day so far, and he thinks Jefferson County will top that number, based on the number of calls his office has been getting. He’s heard a couple of polling places are somewhat cold, but those are the only complaints that have come in to his office. Shelby County Probate Judge Jim Fuhrmeister told the Associated Press that turnout appears higher than normal among young people and black voters in the affluent, normally Republican county. Fuhrmeister said he isn’t predicting a Democratic win. But the Jones camp has upped its grass-roots campaign in the county, and Furhmeister said he expects the party to see some results for its efforts. Several probate judges have said they have received up to four times as many applications for absentee ballots as they usually process. The U.S. Senate special election has drawn national attention for months, enough so that the Department of Homeland Security is keepings watch in the state today, according to AP. A federal protective security adviser and a cybersecurity adviser are in Montgomery and working “side by side” with state government officials in case issues arise, a DHS official told AP. The officials said it’s part of a larger effort to share threat information and technical support after DHS concluded Russian government hackers targeted election systems in 21 states last year. Even before several women accused Moore of having sexual contact with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, the race was in the spotlight because it could determine a key vote in the Senate as Trump tries to get some of his major platform planks passed. After the allegations, that attention exploded. The race has at one time or another been described as a referendum on President Trump and/or the Democratic Party, on American values or Alabama values, and on Alabama itself. Some Republicans had grown hesitant about Moore after the sexual abuse allegations. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, publicly announced that he had voted by absentee ballot – and not for Moore. Shelby said he had written in the name of a distinguished Republican. But later, Trump endorsed Moore and Republicans began to trickle back to his side. Nonetheless, the controversy left the race mostly a statistical tie. Polls have seesawed between showing Moore up by a few points and then the next day showing Jones edging him out. If it’s a close race with a large write-in component, it could delay results by a week or more, when the write-ins, along with votes cast by Alabama residents serving overseas, will be counted. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state. For complete coverage of the election, including candidate profiles, information about campaign donations, and rules for the polls and tools for the voter, Read the BirminghamWatch Voter Guide. Candidate Profiles What You Need to Know at the Polls Campaign Money Report a Problem at the Polls Jones Brings out Randall Woodfin, Charles Barkley, for Election-Eve Rally So, Where’s Roy Moore Been in the Campaign’s Closing Days?

by Virginia Martin

Campaign Money

Research Campaign Financing Little-Known PACs Fund a Deluge of Ads in the Days Leading Up to the Senate Election

by Virginia Martin

What You Need to Know at the Polls

Campaigning Outside Polling Places Partisan Clothing Help With Voting Crossover Voting Not a Concern Verify Your Registration and Polling Place ID Needed at the Polls Report a Problem at the Polls

by Virginia Martin

Candidate Profiles

Candidate Profiles Doug Jones Roy Moore

by Virginia Martin

Crossover Voting Not a Concern

The crossover voting ban does NOT apply in this election. The law that went into effect this year bars people who voted in one party’s primary from flipping in the runoff and voting in the other party’s primary. But Tuesday’s election is a general election, and the law does not apply. If you voted Democratic

by Virginia Martin

Help With Voting

A relative, friend, even a candidate if you ask him, can help you vote. But you cannot be assisted by your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union.

by Virginia Martin

Is There Life After Doug Jones for Alabama Democrats?

Win or lose, Doug Jones has done something few would have considered possible not long ago: given a candidate of the Alabama Democratic Party what appears to be a legitimate shot at winning a seat in the U.S. Senate. Jones, who faces off against Republican Roy Moore on Tuesday for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is mounting a challenge to the Republican monopoly on state political power in Alabama that the GOP has been forced to take seriously. Polls suggest that Jones has a chance – a slim one, but a chance – to win. That is affirmed by most of the GOP faithful – from President Donald Trump to Steve Bannon to Gov. Kay Ivey – showing a united front for Moore, a candidate many Republicans had expressed doubts about. As the high-profile Jones-Moore race concludes, however, a question remains: Is the state seeing an election tied distinctly to Jones, his campaign and his opponent, or is the Alabama Democratic Party being revived as a political force in the deep red state? Read more.

by Nick Patterson and Michelle Love

Partisan Clothing

You can wear clothing, caps or buttons emblazoned with your candidate’s name while you are voting. But you cannot loiter, do any politicking or leave any campaign materials in the polling place.

by Virginia Martin

Campaigning Outside Polling Places

Campaigning is allowed 30 feet or more from the entrance to the polling place, but no closer.

by Virginia Martin