Tips for Alabama Voters!!!!!

The headlines have already been a little scary.

Lawsuit Filed in PA Demanding Emergency Paper Ballots
Vote Flips 5 Times From D to R in Another WV County
Votes Flip R to D in Decatur Cty, TN! Can We Remove the Machines NOW?!
Candidate Names Missing on Final Review Screens in SC
Election Filmmaker Sees Own Vote Flipped From Dem in TN
ES&S Vote-Flipping Seen in 2 WV Counties
FL: Broken Machines, 3 Hour Vote for CNN Reporter
TX: Straight-Party Vote Disinfo Loses Votes
Court-ordered Report Finds Inaccurate NJ Voting Machines

Luckily for us in Alabama, we don’t have this headache of voting early.  But we will vote on November 4th.  What exactly are we voting for on that day?  Not President and Vice President, as most people think.  We’re actually casting votes for that candidate’s electors…the ones with the final say…for that “magic” number, 270 to win.

Here’s your quick lesson in the Presidential Politics behind the Electoral College:

Forty eight states, and Washington, D.C., use the “winner-takes-all” method, where all Electoral College members are selected as pledged to vote for a certain candidate.   The state’s popular vote winner will actually receive all of these Electoral votes. As we saw in 2000, this does not always make the state happy. The only two states that really have a more representative (more fair???), Congressional District method, are Maine and Nebraska, and they select one elector within each congressional district by popular vote, then choose the remaining two electors based on the statewide popular vote.

Alabama Congressional Districts

Alabama, a winner-takes-all state, has 9 electoral college members (to equal the two U.S. Senators and seven U.S. Representatives).  That means, to affect the outcome of any election, we must have the majority of popular votes for a candidate, so that the entire Electoral College will vote for them.  This is a truly “Red” state–just to give you an idea, Alabama has 7 Republicans and 2 Democrats total in Congress, and our districts cut across the vastly different areas of the state.  With the polarizing effect of this particular election cycle, Alabamians have been adamantly promoting their candidates.  If you’ve ever been through the most conservative parts of the state, I know you can see what we’re up against.  But let our voices be heard anyway.

We probably don’t have a chance of taking the state in the Presidential Election, but wouldn’t it be pretty impressive to have STRONG Democratic showing in Alabama this election?  Perhaps take back some of those U.S. Senator and Representative seats as well?

Besides Barack Obama, there are several other very interesting Democrats on the ballot this year in our state.  I’m excited to say that we have some outstanding female legislative and judicial candidates.  Check out Vivian Davis Figures for U.S. Senate, Judge Deborah Bell Paseur for Alabama Supreme Court, Kimberly Harrison Drake for Civil Appeals Judge and (good ol’) Lucy Baxley for President of the Public Service Commission.  There is also the District 5 Representative seat being vacated by Bud Cramer–Parker Griffith is the Democratic candidate.  But…primarily…I’m interested to see how well Obama can do in Alabama, so I wanted to give you some tips for making sure your correct vote is recorded.

ID needed for Voting -Several forms of ID are acceptable at the polls, including:
*Government-issued photo identifications authorized by law (current and valid, including any branch, department agency or entity of the federal government)
*Employee identification with photo of employee produced by the employer
*Utility bill of voter with your name and address
*Bank statement with your name and address
*Government check with your name and address
*Paycheck with your name and address
*Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the State of Alabama (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Alabama, including colleges, universities, and technical or professional schools)
*Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by any of the other 49 states (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of that State)
*Valid U.S. passport
*Valid Alabama hunting license
*Valid Alabama fishing license
*Valid Alabama pistol/revolver permit
*Valid pilot’s license issued by the FAA or other authorized agency of the federal government
*Valid United States military identification
*Birth certificate (certified copy)
*Valid Social Security card
*Naturalization document (certified copy)
*Court record of adoption (certified copy)
*Court record of name change (certified copy)
*Valid Medicaid card
*Valid electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card

Absentee Ballot Process – The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is five days prior to an election. Ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election or can be hand delivered by 5:00 pm on Election Day. For statewide elections, absentee ballot applications and completed absentee ballots should be hand delivered or mailed to the absentee election manager in care of the circuit clerk for your county.

Straight Party Voting – if you’re going DEM “all the way”, all you have to do is complete the arrow for Alabama Democratic Party.  You DO NOT have to complete the arrow for President/Vice President (although it has been stated by the state election commission that your ballot will still count if you do).

Write-ins – Make sure you DO complete the arrow for any candidate that is written in.  DO NOT complete any other arrows for the office/position.  You DO NOT have to write in a printed candidate’s name. (although…maybe we could write Barack Obama into every office…)

Exit Polling – Voting is very personal, but please take a second to give information to the exit pollers (we’d know if there was a disparity here first!!), especially in THIS election, in every state, for every Democratic voter (and Repubs, too).

Polling places are open from 7am – 7pm.  Remember to check your ballot!!!