Know Before You Go

You can find your polling place and check your registration status on this Secretary of State’s Office site. Some polling places in Jefferson County have been changed this year, so it might be a good idea to double check where you’re expected to vote even if this doesn’t usually cause you a problem.

You also can see which district you vote in on another SOS site here.

You Need ID to Vote

You must show a valid photo ID at the polls before you’re allowed to vote. If you don’t have one of the IDs, you should be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. If you don’t have one of the accepted IDs, you can apply for a voter photo ID from the county Board of Registrars. What ID do you need?

Absentee Ballots

If you’re voting by absentee ballot and mailed it in, it must be received by the absentee election manager no later than noon on election day. If you’re delivering your ballot by hand, it has to be received by the close of business the day before the election, which is Monday. You can apply for an emergency absentee ballot with a letter from a doctor up to the day before the election, as well. More absentee information is available here.

Campaign Financing

You can research financing of state and local candidates on your ballot on the Secretary of State’s Campaign Financing page.

You can research financing of federal candidates on the Federal Election Commission website.

Libertarians, Independents, Write-Ins and Straight Tickets

If it seems you have a few more choices in some races on your ballot Tuesday, you’re probably right. To start, the Libertarian Party of Alabama this year met the requirements to get candidates on ballots statewide for the first time in 20 years. Additionally, a number of independents qualified to run in Jefferson County races. On top of that, voters have the usual option to write in the name of any person they want to nominate for an office. In some of the smaller district races, an unofficial candidate could, statistically, sway enough voters to blast his or her way into office over party nominees. But if you’ve just been waiting all your life to have Mickey Mouse as your representative on some governmental body, writing that on the ballot is wasting your time. Most polling officials don’t even count the fictional and sophomoric votes. They are going to have a busy day, after all.

You also have the option to vote a straight party ticket, meaning you’d vote for all Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians on the ballot. That option is the first one on the ballot, at the top left corner. If you’re a voter who goes for a party rather than a person, that’s a real time saver. But don’t forget to turn the ballot over because you need to vote on amendments individually.