Tag: 2020 election
Polling Officials Say Alabama’s July 14 Election Won’t Mirror Georgia’s Snafus
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said the state is prepared for the July 14 primary runoffs and he does not foresee problems here like the ones that happened during Georgia’s voting Tuesday.
Merrill said all of the state’s 1,980 poll sites will be open for next month’s primary runoff elections. He said he knows of no shortage of poll workers, and he has asked all election officials in the state to let him know if there is a shortage.
The issue of whether enough poll workers would be available to work on this election arose because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most poll workers are retired, election officials say, and people over 65 are more susceptible to the virus. Read more.
Alabama’s Absentee Ballot Rules Draw Increased Scrutiny Amid Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has spurred a new wave of legal challenges to Alabama’s voting laws, particularly its absentee ballot requirements. The League of Women Voters of Alabama is the latest group to file a lawsuit against the state claiming its voting rules are too restrictive. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, urges state officials to expand absentee ballot access during the November general election. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission Considers Higher Rent for Polling Places
Polling places in Jefferson County could be in line to receive more money to host elections, according to a report from Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars.
Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the Jefferson County Commission, Stephenson said that the county last increased the rent offered to sites that host polling places in October 2018. That took the rent from $25 to $100.
The registrar said an increase in rent this year would be a sign of goodwill. When asked, Stephenson said the rent could be raised to $250 for each of the county’s 175 polling places; he said only 60 polling places actually accept rent.
Read more.
Contributors in the U.S. Senate Race
Following are lists of contributors of $5,000 and up to U.S. Senate candidates. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, faced no opposition from within his party and will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville are candidates for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat, and the winner of their July 14 GOP primary runoff will face Jones in the fall election. Read more.
Tuberville, Sessions Fundraising Neck-and-Neck for Senate Seat
Tommy Tuberville and Jeff Sessions have been running almost dollar-for-dollar in recent weeks as they raise cash for their campaigns for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, according to reports they filed this week with the Federal Elections Commission.
Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, narrowly led a field of seven candidates in the GOP primary on March 3. He will meet Sessions, who held the Senate seat for almost two decades until he resigned in early 2017 to become President Donald Trump’s first attorney general, in a runoff on July 14. Read more.
See the lists of contributors in the U.S. Senate race.
Sessions Targets China, Calls for ‘Reset’ in Relationship
The outbreak of the new coronavirus has drastically altered the campaigns for Alabama’s runoff elections. Originally scheduled for March 31, runoffs for the Republican races for Congress and U.S. Senate are now postponed until July 14.
The pandemic and its total consumption of the news cycle have also shifted the narrative for candidates. Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is running for his former seat in the U.S. Senate, has capitalized on the situation to take an aggressive position against China and highlight his foreign policy bonafides.
In the runoff, Sessions faces former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, who won 33% of the vote to Sessions’ 32% in the March 3 primary election. Todd Stacy of Alabama Daily News interviewed Sessions and talked about his campaign and the issues he is discussing.
Read more.
Runoff Election Delayed to July; Political Campaigns Rethink Strategy
MONTGOMERY— Alabama political campaigns that were set for primary runoff elections on March 31 have to now adjust their strategies after Gov. Kay Ivey moved the election date to July 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ivey on Wednesday said delaying the election was the best way to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus while also allowing people to exercise their right to vote.
“The ability to hold free and fair elections is an inherent right as citizens of the United States and the great state of Alabama, but the safety and well-being of Alabama citizens is paramount,” Ivey said.
The decision greatly changes the political landscape in an already heated campaign season. Read more.
Ivey Delays Alabama Primary Runoff Election Until July 14
Gov. Kay Ivey today moved Alabama’s primary runoff elections from next Tuesday, March 31, until July 14 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Exercising my extraordinary powers under the Emergency Management Act, I am setting Alabama’s Primary Runoff Election for July 14, 2020,” Ivey said during a news conference this morning. “The ability to hold free and fair elections is an inherent right as citizens of the United States and the great state of Alabama, but the safety and wellbeing of Alabama citizens is paramount.”
She said recommendations that people practice social distancing and avoid crowds would be difficult to maintain in election day.
Read more.
AG: Governor Can Postpone March 31 Runoff
MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Steve Marshall on Tuesday said Gov. Kay Ivey has the authority to postpone the upcoming March 31 runoff elections under power granted to “protect the public health and safety” during a proclaimed state of emergency. Read more.
New Poll Shows Tuberville Leading Sessions in Alabama Senate Race
MONTGOMERY — A new poll shows former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville with a double-digit lead over former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate.
A survey conducted by Cygnal showed that if the March 31 runoff election were held today, 51.5% of voters would choose Tuberville, while 39.5% would choose Sessions. Nine percent of voters remained undecided. Read more.
