The Probate Judge is required by law to provide supplies to the
Absentee Election Manager 55 days before an election.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR A TRADITIONAL ABSENTEE BALLOT
ยง17-10-3, Code of Alabama
- The voter will be out of the county or state on election day.
- The voter is physically incapacitated and will not be able to vote in person on election day.
- The voter works a shift which has at least (10) hours that coincide with the polling hours
at their regular polling place.
- The voter is a student at and educational institution located outside the county of their
permanent residence; and are, therefore, unable to vote at their usual polling place on election day.
- The voter is a member of, or a spouse of a member of, the armed forces of the United States or
are otherwise entitled to vote by absentee pursuant the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act, 42, U.S.C. 1973ff.
- The voter has been appointed as an election officer at a polling place which is not their regular
polling place.
If you are registered to vote in Shelby County and meet one of the above requirements, then
you are eligible. If you are not registered to vote in Shelby County, you will need to contact the
Board of Registrars at (205) 669-3913 to register. By law the cut-off date to register to
be eligible to vote in an upcoming election is 14 days before the election. You can download a voter registration
form
here. It should be mailed to the Board of Registrars at PO Box 1642, Columbiana, AL 35051. You can
also register online at www.alabamavotes.gov.
You can call Mary H. Harris, Absentee Election Manager at (205) 669-3779 or
come by and pick up an application at room 1F at the Shelby County Courthouse, Columbiana, AL
35051. You can also download the form available in the
Absentee Voting Files and Links section.
PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU FILL OUT AND MAIL IN YOUR APPLICATION.
The application must be mailed via USPS MAIL or by COMMERCIAL CARRIER to: Mary H. Harris, Absentee Election Manager,
P.O. Box 1810, Columbiana, AL 35051. By law (
AG Opinion 82-551), each application must be mailed in a
separate envelope. Multiple applications (even for husband and wife) which are mailed in the same
envelope will be returned to the voter. Applications cannot be faxed to the Absentee Election
Manager.
The cut-off date is 5 days before an election. Since elections are typically held
on a Tuesday, this would be on the preceding Thursday. Your application must be received in the
office on or before this date for me to be able to mail you a ballot, or you can vote in person
at the office of the Absentee Election Manager through Thursday.
Your application must physically be in the Absentee Election Manager's office on
Thursday. That is the cut-off date for mailing a ballot.
Yes, you can come by the Absentee Election Manager's office Monday through Friday
8:00AM - 4:30PM (except on holidays) and make application and vote while you are in the office. The
cut-off date is Thursday (five days before an election). The address is at the Circuit Clerk's office at the Shelby
County Courthouse, Columbiana, AL. The office does not close for lunch.
Yes, you will need to present one of the following forms of photo ID
before you can vote:
(a) a valid Alabama driver's license which was properly issued by
the appropriate state or county department or agency;
(b) a valid Alabama nondriver identification card which was properly
issued by the appropriate state or county department or agency;
(c) a valid Alabama photo voter identification card (These can be obtained
free of charge at your local Board of Registrars);
(d) a valid identification card issued by a branch, department,
agency, or entity of the State of Alabama, any other state, or the United States
authorized by law to issue personal identification, provided that such
identification card contains a photograph of the elector;
(e) a valid U.S. passport;
(f) a valid employee identification card containing the photograph
of the elector and issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the
U.S. government, the State of Alabama, or any other county, municipality, board,
authority, or other entity of this state;
(g) a valid student or employee identification card issued by a
public or private college, university, or postgraduate technical or professional
located within the State of Alabama, provided that such identification card
contains a photograph of the elector;
(h) a valid U.S. military identification card, provided that such
identification card contains a photograph of the elector; or
(i) a valid tribal identification card containing a photograph of
the elector.
A copy of your ID is to be sent with your application. You no longer have to send ID when you return your ballot.
Go to www.alabamavotes.gov or call the voter registration office at 205-669-3913.
(Note: Due to possible high call volume, voter registration would prefer you going through the web site if possible.)
Yes, by law, your ballot must either be notarized OR witnessed by two
people 18 years of age or older. These may be other family members. If your ballot has not been
notarized or witnessed by 2 people, it will not be counted.
They need to contact the military voting assistance officer and request
Standard Form 76-A which is a Federal Post Card Absentee Ballot Request. It is postage pre-paid.
For more information, go to www.fvap.gov. The Absentee Election Manager
should be notified if there is a change of address of military voter between
elections. It is recommended that a Standard 76 Form be mailed the first of each
year and request ballots for that calendar year. You will automatically be sent a ballot for every election you are eligible to vote in.
No, at this time the law (
AG Opinion 84-359) does not allow a person to vote for someone else.
You need to get in touch with the Board of Registrars at (205) 669-3913 and
update your address. If I receive your application and the residence address is different than
what is on file with the Board of Registrars, you will have to vote a Provisional Ballot.
You may also update at www.alabamavotes.gov.
The law states that any elections which are 42 days apart, must have
a new application (except military absentee applications).
The law provides for a voter to vote business emergency if you find out
after the Thursday deadline that you have to go out of the county or state for business reasons. You
can go to the Absentee Election Manager's Office and vote in person on Friday and Monday
before the Tuesday election. (Unless either of these two days is a federal/state holiday.)
To vote in the Primary Election, you must designate the party which you wish to receive a
ballot for. You cannot vote a Republican and a Democrat ballot. In the General Election in
November, you can vote for candidates from any of the parties on the ballot. Due to the crossover voting law,
you are required in the primaries to vote for the same party in the Primary and Primary Run-off.
You need to call your city clerk at the city hall in the municipality you live in.