Alabama state executive official elections, 2020
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| Alabama state executive official elections |
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| Election details |
| Filing deadline: November 8, 2019 |
| Primary: March 3, 2020 Primary runoff: July 14, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Alabama |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2020 Impact of term limits in 2020 State government trifectas and triplexes |
| Other state executive elections |
Five state executive offices were up for election in Alabama in 2020:
Public Service Commissioner
State Board of Education (4 seats)
Candidates and election results
Public Service Commissioner
General election
General election for Alabama Public Service Commission President
Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh defeated Laura Casey in the general election for Alabama Public Service Commission President on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) | 62.0 | 1,403,790 |
 | Laura Casey (D) | 37.9 | 858,054 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2,726 | ||
| Total votes: 2,264,570 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Alabama Public Service Commission President
Laura Casey defeated Robert Mardis III in the Democratic primary for Alabama Public Service Commission President on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Casey | 78.5 | 252,851 |
 | Robert Mardis III | 21.5 | 69,352 | |
| Total votes: 322,203 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Public Service Commission President
Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh defeated Robin Litaker in the Republican primary for Alabama Public Service Commission President on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh | 73.8 | 462,979 |
 | Robin Litaker | 26.2 | 164,227 | |
| Total votes: 627,206 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
State Board of Education
District 1
General election
General election for Alabama State Board of Education District 1
Incumbent Jackie Zeigler defeated Tom Holmes in the general election for Alabama State Board of Education District 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jackie Zeigler (R) | 72.7 | 212,461 |
 | Tom Holmes (D) | 27.2 | 79,380 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 294 | ||
| Total votes: 292,135 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tom Holmes advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 1.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jackie Zeigler advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 1.
District 3
General election
General election for Alabama State Board of Education District 3
Incumbent Stephanie Bell defeated Jarralynne Agee in the general election for Alabama State Board of Education District 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Stephanie Bell (R) | 68.9 | 209,909 |
 | Jarralynne Agee (D) | 31.0 | 94,375 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 278 | ||
| Total votes: 304,562 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Jarralynne Agee advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 3.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Stephanie Bell advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 3.
District 5
General election
General election for Alabama State Board of Education District 5
Tonya Smith Chestnut defeated Lesa Keith in the general election for Alabama State Board of Education District 5 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tonya Smith Chestnut (D) | 62.7 | 161,192 |
 | Lesa Keith (R) | 37.2 | 95,593 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 245 | ||
| Total votes: 257,030 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Alabama State Board of Education District 5
Tonya Smith Chestnut defeated Fred F. Bell in the Democratic primary runoff for Alabama State Board of Education District 5 on July 14, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tonya Smith Chestnut | 61.4 | 21,302 |
 | Fred F. Bell | 38.6 | 13,417 | |
| Total votes: 34,719 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 5
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 5 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Fred F. Bell | 30.3 | 24,589 |
| ✔ | | Tonya Smith Chestnut | 19.8 | 16,044 |
| Billie Jean Young | 13.9 | 11,271 | ||
| Ron Davis | 11.1 | 8,957 | ||
 | Pamela Laffitte | 8.3 | 6,712 | |
 | Patrice McClammy | 7.3 | 5,932 | |
| Woodie Pugh Jr. | 7.0 | 5,696 | ||
| Joanne Shum | 2.3 | 1,830 | ||
| Total votes: 81,031 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Phillip Ensler (D)
- Robert White II (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Lesa Keith advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 5.
District 7
General election
General election for Alabama State Board of Education District 7
Belinda Palmer McRae won election in the general election for Alabama State Board of Education District 7 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Belinda Palmer McRae (R) | 98.7 | 230,122 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.3 | 2,957 | ||
| Total votes: 233,079 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Belinda Palmer McRae advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 7.
Context of the 2020 elections
Party control in Alabama
Alabama Party Control: 1992-2025
Six years of Democratic trifectas • Fifteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Voter information
How the primary works
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.[1][2][3]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Poll times
In Alabama, polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. According to state law, "All polling places in areas operating on eastern time shall open and close under this section pursuant to eastern time except the county commissions in Chambers County and Lee County may by resolution provide for any polling place to be excluded from this sentence and to be open according to central time."[4] An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[5]
Registration requirements
- Check your voter registration status here.
Alabama requires that an 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. A citizen cannot have been barred from registering due to a felony conviction and cannot have been declared mentally incompetent by a court.[6]
Voters cannot register during the 14-day period preceding an election. According to the Alabama Secretary of State's website:[6]
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You may download the State of Alabama Postcard Voter Registration Application from this site. The form can be printed on your printer, filled out, and then mailed into your local voter registration officials. Click here for more information. You may also request a postcard voter registration from this office by e-mail. Click here to request a voter registration form. Voter registration is also available from your local County Board of Registrars. Click here to get the address and phone number for the board of registrars office in your county. You may also obtain voter registration services at the following state and local government offices and agencies:
The postcard voter registration form is also available at:
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Automatic registration
Alabama does not practice automatic voter registration.
Online registration
- See also: Online voter registration
Alabama has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Same-day registration
Alabama does not allow same-day voter registration.
Residency requirements
To register to vote in Alabama, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.
Verification of citizenship
An Alabama state law, passed in 2011, requires people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.[8] However, as of June 2025, the law had not been implemented.[9]
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot require proof of citizenship with federal registration forms. That meant states would need to create a separate registration system for state elections in order to require proof of citizenship. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) said the following: "That’s an election administration nightmare ... You’d have to have two sets of poll books, one for federal elections and one for state elections, and that just doesn’t make any sense to me."[10]
An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.
All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.[11] Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.
Verifying your registration
The Alabama Secretary of State's Voter View website allows residents to check their voter registration status online.
Voter ID requirements
Alabama requires voters to present photo identification at the polls. The following list of accepted forms of identification was current as of September 2024. Click here for the most current information, sourced directly from the Office of the Alabama Secretary of State.
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A voter can obtain a free identification card from the Alabama Secretary of State, a county registrar's office, or a mobile location. The mobile location schedule can be accessed here.
Voters must also provide a copy of valid photo identification when applying for an absentee ballot, with the exception of 1) voters for whom polling locations are inaccessible due to age or disability, and 2) overseas military members.[12][13]
Early voting
Absentee voting
A voter is eligible to vote absentee/mail-in in an election if he or she cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:[14]
- 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 voter is a caregiver to a family member to the second degree of kinship who is confined to their home.
- The voter is incarcerated and has not been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude.
Absentee/mail-in ballot application must be received by the seventh day prior to the election if delivered by mail, and by the fifth day before an election if delivered by hand.
In the following circumstances, the deadline to apply for an absentee/mail-in 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.
Alabama also provides for medical emergency absentee/mail-in voting for a voter who has a medical emergency requiring treatment from a licensed physician within 5 days of an election. A voted medical emergency absentee/mail-in ballot must be returned no later than noon on election day.[14]
Past elections
2018
The following elections took place in 2018:
- Alabama gubernatorial election, 2018
- Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018
- Alabama Attorney General election, 2018
- Alabama Secretary of State election, 2018
- Alabama Treasurer election, 2018
- Alabama Auditor election, 2018
- Alabama Agriculture Commissioner election, 2018
- Alabama state executive official elections, 2018
- Alabama gubernatorial election, 2018 (June 5 Republican primary)
- Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (June 5 Republican primary)
- Alabama Attorney General election, 2018 (June 5 Republican primary)
- Alabama Secretary of State election, 2018 (June 5 Republican primary)
- Alabama gubernatorial election, 2018 (June 5 Democratic primary)
- Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (June 5 Democratic primary)
- Alabama Attorney General election, 2018 (June 5 Democratic primary)
- Alabama Secretary of State election, 2018 (June 5 Democratic primary)
- Alabama Public Service Commission election, 2018
- Alabama State Board of Education election, 2018
- Alabama Attorney General election, 2018 (July 17 Republican primary runoff)
- Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (July 17 Republican primary runoff)
See also
| Alabama | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-13-1," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-3-30," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-9-6," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ NAACP Legal Defense Fund, "Alabama Voter Information," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Voter Registration General Information," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Election Laws, Section 31-13-28," accessed March 1, 2023
- ↑ Phone conversation between Amée LaTour and Jeff Elrod, supervisor of voter registration with the Alabama Secretary of State office.
- ↑ Pew Trusts, "'Proof of Citizenship' Voting Laws May Surge Under Trump," November 16, 2017
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-10-1," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting Information," accessed July 22, 2024
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting Information," accessed July 21, 2024
