Alabama elections, 2020
This page is an overview of the 2020 Alabama elections, including your sample ballot, the offices on the ballot covered by Ballotpedia, featured elections, election dates, and frequently asked questions.
Contents
Who is running for election in Alabama?
Offices on the ballot
Below is a list of 2020 Alabama elections covered by Ballotpedia. Follow the links to learn more about each type.
| President of the United States | ✓ |
| U.S. Senate | ✓ |
| U.S. House | ✓ |
| Congress special election | — |
| Governor | — |
| Other state executive | ✓ |
| State Senate | — |
| State House | — |
| Special state legislative | — |
| State Supreme Court | ✓ |
| Intermediate appellate courts | ✓ |
| Local judges | ✓ |
| School boards | ✓ |
| Municipal government | ✓ |
| Recalls | — |
| Ballot measures | ✓ |
| Local ballot measures | — |
Legend: ✓ election(s) / — no elections
Subject to Ballotpedia's scope
Election dates
Statewide election dates in Alabama are listed below. For more dates, please see the elections calendar.
Statewide election dates
March 3, 2020: Primary
March 31, 2020: Primary runoff
November 3, 2020: General election
Polling hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.[1]
Local election dates
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive ballot coverage of municipal elections in the nation's 100 largest cities by population, including races for trial court judgeships and county offices that overlap them. Ballotpedia also covers the nation's 200 largest public school districts by student enrollment and all school districts overlapping the top 100 cities by population.
Frequently asked questions
When are the polls open?
- 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.[1]
See State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2020) for more information
Where can I find election results?
- Results for congressional elections are posted on this page on election night. Results for other elections are posted on Ballotpedia's election overview pages, as well as the relevant candidate pages. You can find links to the current election overview pages in the "Offices on the ballot" section.
How do primaries work in Alabama?
- A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Alabama uses an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[2][3][4]
How do I register to vote?
To register to vote in Alabama, the state requires that each applicant be a citizen of the United States who resides in Alabama. A voter must be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day. In order to be eligible to vote, a citizen cannot have been barred from doing so due to a felony conviction and cannot have been declared mentally incompetent by a court.[5]
Voters cannot register during the 14-day period preceding an election. A citizen can register to vote in the following locations:[5]
- License branches
- State or local government offices
- Public libraries
- Military recruiting stations
- County boards of registrars
Prospective voters may also mail in a registration form. Click here to find out how.
Is there an early voting period?
- See also: Early voting
Alabama does not permit early voting.
As of December 2019, 39 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on election day. States that do not permit early voting still permit some or all citizens to vote early by mail—often known as absentee voting. Some states allow no-excuse absentee voting, while others require an excuse. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted among early voting states. Click here for early voting laws by state.[6]
Who is eligible for absentee voting?
- See also: Absentee voting
A voter is eligible to vote absentee in an election if he or she cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:[7]
- The voter will be absent from the county on Election Day.
- The voter is ill or has a disability that prevents a trip to the polling place.
- The voter is a registered voter living outside the county, such as a member of the armed forces, a voter employed outside the United States, a college student, or a spouse or child of such a person.
- The voter is an appointed election officer or poll watcher at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place.
- The voter works a required shift of 10 hours or more that coincides with polling hours.
The absentee ballot application must be received at least five days prior to the election in the above circumstances. In the following circumstances, the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. the day before the election:
- The voter is required by an employer under unforeseen circumstances to be out of the county on Election Day for an emergency business trip.
- The voter has a medical emergency requiring treatment from a licensed physician.
- The voter is a caregiver of a person who requires emergency treatment by a licensed physician within five days before an election.
- The voter has a family member to the second degree of kinship by affinity or consanguinity die within five days before an election.
The absentee ballot must then be returned either in person by close of business the day before the election or by mail. If returned by mail, the ballot must be postmarked no later than the day before the election and received by the election manager by noon on Election Day.[7]
What are the voter ID laws in Alabama?
How do I file to run for office?
- See Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Alabama for information on how to run for state or federal office.
What does Ballotpedia cover?
- Ballotpedia's coverage extends to all elections on the federal level, all gubernatorial, state legislative, statewide ballot measure, and statewide judicial elections, as well as many other types of state executive offices. Local elections coverage includes comprehensive ballot coverage for municipal and judicial elections in the top 100 cities by population and races for the large counties that overlap them. It also includes school board elections in the top 200 largest school districts by enrollment, all California local ballot measures, and notable local ballot measures from across the nation. Ballotpedia does not cover elections in U.S. territories or other countries.
How do I contact Ballotpedia with a question?
- Email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
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Footnotes:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "2020 Election Information: Voter Guide", accessed November 18, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Voter Registration General Information," accessed August 19, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Laws Governing Early Voting," August 2, 2019
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Alabama Secretary of State Elections Website, "Absentee Voting Information," accessed August 21, 2019
