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Democratic Party primaries in Alabama, 2020
- Primary date: March 3
- Primary type: Open
- Registration deadline(s): Feb. 14 (hand-delivered); Feb. 15 (postmarked); Feb. 17 (online)
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Early voting starts: N/A
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): March 2 (postmarked); March 3 (received)
- Voter ID: Photo ID
- Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2022 →
← 2018
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| Democratic Party primaries, 2020 |
 |
| Primary Date |
| March 3, 2020 |
| Primary Runoff Date |
| March 31, 2020 |
| Federal elections |
| Democratic primary for U.S. Senate |
| Democratic primaries for U.S. House |
| State party |
| Democratic Party of Alabama |
| State political party revenue |
This page focuses on the Democratic primaries that took place in Alabama on March 3, 2020. Click here for more information about the Republican primaries.
Note that the dates and terms of participation for presidential preference primaries and caucuses sometimes differ from those that apply to primaries for state-level and other federal offices, which are the subject of this article. For more information on this state's presidential nomination process, click here.
Federal elections
U.S. Senate
The 2020 U.S. Senate elections in Alabama took place on November 3, 2020. Voters elected one candidate to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Democratic primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- Doug Jones (Incumbent) ✔
U.S. House
The 2020 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Alabama took place on November 3, 2020. Voters elected seven candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's seven congressional districts.
District 1
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
District 2
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
District 3
Democratic primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
Did not make the ballot:
District 4
Democratic primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
District 5
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
District 6
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
District 7
Democratic primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- Terri Sewell (Incumbent) ✔
Did not make the ballot:
State elections
State executive offices
Public service commissioner
Democratic primary candidates
State Board of Education
District 1
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
District 3
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
District 5
Democratic primary candidates- Fred F. Bell ✔
- Ron Davis
- Pamela Laffitte
- Patrice McClammy
- Woodie Pugh Jr.
- Joanne Shum
- Tonya Smith Chestnut ✔
- Billie Jean Young
District 7
Democratic primary candidatesThe Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
State supreme court
- See also: Alabama Supreme Court elections, 2020
The terms of two Alabama Supreme Court justices expired on January 17, 2021.
Candidates and results
Place 1
General election candidates
- Greg Shaw (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Place 2
General election candidates
- Brad Mendheim (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- Brad Mendheim (Incumbent) ✔
Note: Because incumbent Brad Mendheim was the only candidate to file for election, the primaries were canceled and he automatically advanced to the general election.
Intermediate appellate courts
The terms of two Alabama Court of Civil Appeals justices and two Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals justices expired on January 17, 2021.
- This is a list of the justices who had to stand for partisan election in 2020 in order to remain on the bench. Justices could choose not to stand for election.
Court of Civil Appeals
Candidates and election results
Place 1
General election candidates
- William Thompson (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- William Thompson (Incumbent) ✔
Note: Because incumbent William Thompson was the only candidate to file for election, the primaries were canceled and he automatically advanced to the general election.
Place 2
General election candidates
- Matt Fridy (Republican Party) ✔
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
Judges not on the ballot
- Scott Donaldson (Place 2)[1]
Court of Criminal Appeals
Candidates and results
Place 1
General election candidates
- Mary Becker Windom (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
- Mary Becker Windom (Incumbent) ✔
- Melvin Hasting
Place 2
General election candidates
- J. Elizabeth Kellum (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
Republican primary runoff candidates
- J. Elizabeth Kellum (Incumbent) ✔
- Will Smith
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Democratic primary candidates
The Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Republican primary candidates
- J. Elizabeth Kellum (Incumbent) ✔
- Jill Ganus
- Will Smith ✔
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Context of the 2020 elections
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 |
State party overview
- See also: Democratic Party of Alabama
State political party revenue
State political parties typically deposit revenue in separate state and federal accounts in order to comply with state and federal campaign finance laws.
The Democratic Party and the Republican Party maintain state affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and select U.S. territories. The following map displays total state political party revenue per capita for the Democratic state party affiliates.
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.[2]
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."[3] An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[4]
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.[5]
Voters cannot register during the 14-day period preceding an election. According to the Alabama Secretary of State's website:[5]
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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.[7] However, as of June 2025, the law had not been implemented.[8]
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."[9]
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.[10] 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. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. 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 October 2025. 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.
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:[11]
- 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.[11]
Pivot Counties
- See also: Pivot Counties by state
Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states. No counties in Alabama are Pivot Counties.
In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Alabama with 62.1 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 34.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Alabama voted Democratic 53.33 percent of the time and Republican 40 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Alabama voted Republican all five times.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alabama Republican Party, "Qualified Candidates," accessed November 11, 2019
- ↑ The Alabama Legislature, "Ala. Code § 17-13-7," accessed October 15, 2025
- ↑ Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-9-6," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ NAACP Legal Defense Fund, "Alabama Voter Information," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Voter Registration General Information," accessed July 20, 2024
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 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."
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting Information," accessed July 21, 2024
