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Laws governing local ballot measures in Alabama

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Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.
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Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.

Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Ballot measure policy topics

Select a state from the dropdown to learn more about laws governing ballot measures in that state.

This page describes the state constitutional provisions and statutes that govern local ballot measures in Alabama. Jurisdictions often establish additional rules within the parameters of state law; those can be found in local ordinances and home-rule charters.

Explore the links below for more information:

Law

The Alabama Constitution and Code of Alabama establish the rules that govern local ballot measures in the state.

General

The following outlines the general rules that govern local ballot measures in Alabama, including both citizen-initiated measures and referred measures from local government bodies.

  • Election timing: Elections for referendums are only held in conjunction with a primary, general, or special election held for another purpose in the county. No election can be held the same ballot measure more than once every 48 months.[1]
  • Vote requirements: All local ballot measures in Alabama require a simple majority vote.[1]
  • Required ballot measures:
    • Article XII, Section 222 of the Alabama Constitution requires voter-approved ballot measures for the issuance of bonds.
    • The Code of Alabama requires voter-approved ballot measures for commission-form municipalities to adopt a mayor-council form of government.[2]

Initiatives

The following outlines the general rules that govern local citizen-initiated ballot measures in Alabama.

  • Authority:
    • Section 11-3A-6 of the Code of Alabama grants voters the authority to submit petitions for referendums to repeal powers granted to the local legislative body under Section 11-3A-2.[3]
  • Signatures: All petitions must be signed by at least 10% of the total number of qualified electors of the county who reside in the unincorporated areas of the county.[3]
  • Deadline: The deadline for the judge of probate to verify submitted signatures for a referendum is 60 days.[3]

Referrals

The following outlines the general rules that govern local referred ballot measures in Alabama.

  • Deadline: Amendments put to a referendum by the legislature must be published once a week for four successive weeks prior to the day the election is scheduled.[4]

Local constitutional amendments

  • Authority: Amendment 3, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that passed in 2016, changed the procedure for determining local constitutional amendments.
    • Prior to the amendment's passage, local constitutional amendments were voted on by the entire state of Alabama, unless a three-fifths vote of the legislature and a unanimous vote of a constitutional amendment commission determined that the amendment strictly affected or applied to only one county or jurisdiction.
    • Amendment 3 changed the process for determining whether an amendment affects only one county or jurisdiction by eliminating the constitutional amendment commission and requiring a unanimous vote of both houses of the Alabama Legislature.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the U.S.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the United States

As state laws govern ballot measures, the rules are different from state to state. Click on a state below to explore that state's laws on local ballot measures.

http://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_STATE

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alabama State Legislature, "Code of Alabama, Section 11-3A-5," accessed December 4, 2025
  2. ↑ Alabama State Legislature, "Code of Alabama, Section 11-44A-1," accessed December 4, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Alabama State Legislature, "Code of Alabama, Section 11-3A-6," accessed December 4, 2025
  4. ↑ Ballotpedia, "Article XVIII, Alabama Constitution," accessed December 4, 2025
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