Alabama Super Tuesday updates: Amendment 1 fails statewide
Super Tuesday, the biggest day for presidential primaries, only comes around once every four years. Voters in Alabama were among those in 15 states and one territory heading to the polls to cast their primary votes for the 2024 election — plus numerous local elections and referendums.
Constitutional Amendment 1 fails
Constitutional Amendment 1 failed with 51% of the 700,909 preliminary votes, according to the secretary of state's website.
About 51% of Montgomery County voters approved Amendment 1 with 52 out of 53 precincts reporting, according to information from the probate office.
If it had passed by voters, Amendment 1 would have allowed state lawmakers to consider bills that only concern one county with fewer holdups, said Sonny Brasfield, the executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.
Today, the law requires lawmakers who want to pass this kind of legislation prior to when the budgets are approved to get two votes, the first of which needs a three-fifths majority, to even consider the bills.
Voters re-elect J.C. Love
Probate Judge J.C. Love resoundingly beat Darnell Coley in the race for Montgomery County probate judge with 91% of the preliminary votes in 52 out of 53 precincts reported to the probate office.
“I am overwhelmed by the level of community support I received from the voters in Montgomery County today, and I look forward to continue serving as probate judge and making the office responsive to the needs of the people of Montgomery County and will continue to find ways to make our office more accessible," Love said.
Montgomery County Commissioners
With eight out of nine precincts reported in preliminary results, County Commissioner Dan Harris won about 70% of the vote for District 1 with 3,518 votes.
He defeated newcomers, Jihan Sanders and Kenneth Laneaux, who opposed Harris, who is the incumbent. Harris was first elected in 2012.
District 2 Incumbent Carmen Moore-Zeigler, who Gov. Kay Ivey appointed in August 2022, won her race with about 62% of the votes, according to preliminary results with 13 out of 14 precincts reported to the probate office.
She was up against Erick Wright for the District 2 position.
“I realized I started something that I needed to finish for the people of District 2," Moore-Zeigler said.
Newcomer Justin Castanza beat Cedric Coley to become District 3's county commissioner with seven out of eight precincts reported in preliminary results to the probate office.
The spot was open after Commissioner Ronda Walker announced she was not seeking re-election.
Montgomery native Castanza is the school president at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, according to his website. In 2019, he was named the YMCA Man of the Year, according to previous coverage from the Montgomery Advertiser.
Runoff set in U.S. Congress District 2
Editor's note: These numbers have been to match the Secretary of State Office's unofficial results. A previous version of this update only included Montgomery County data.
State Rep. Anthony Daniels and Shomari Figures will enter a runoff election for the Democrat nomination in the race for the newly redrawn District 2 seat.
At 12:00 a.m., Daniels had 22.36% of the vote districtwide, and Figures had 43.45%, according to incomplete, unofficial results from the Secretary of State Office.
The runoff election will be April 16.
Meanwhile, former Alabama state Sen. Dick Brewbaker leads the District 2 Republican primary election against seven opponents, according to incomplete, unofficial results from the Secretary of State Office. His runoff opponent has yet to be determined.
At 12:00 a.m., Brewbaker had 39.59% of the vote reporting, according to the Secretary of State Office.
Countywide school tax renewed for 30 years
After 40 years of paying a 3.5 mill countywide tax to support local public schools, Montgomery County voters decided to renew the tax for another 30 years on Tuesday.
The renewal passed with 22,000 votes, or 57.76% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Probate Office.
The tax annually provides about $11 million to Montgomery Public Schools and $1.2 million to Pike Road Schools. Voters last renewed it in 2004, and it was set to expire sometime in September.
Sarah Stewart wins Republican nomination for state Supreme Court chief justice
Justice Sarah Stewart, who has been on the Alabama Supreme Court since 2018, snagged the Republican nomination for chief justice, defeating former state Sen. Bryan Taylor.
With 52 of 53 precincts reporting, Stewart won 9,161 votes, 60.12%, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Probate Office.
She will now face off against the Democratic nominee Circuit Judge Greg Griffin in the general election this fall. Griffin was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Alabama presidential primary results
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump notched quick wins in the Alabama Democrat and Republican primaries respectively, according the Associated Press.
At about 8 p.m. and with 3% of votes counted, AP called the race for Biden over opponent Dean Phillips. Minutes later with 5% of votes counted, AP called the race for Trump against opponent Nikki Haley.
Secretary of state clarifies he did not send out incorrect mailers
Michael Jones, general counsel for Secretary of State Wes Allen, sent a letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday. The letter clarified that the secretary of state's office did not send out the mailers with incorrect Congressional districts on them.
Jones accuses the SPLC of "potentially illegal" tactics, saying that the SPLC's move disrupted the primary election.
"Moreover as today's primary election proceeds, SPLC intentionally persists in furthering its erroneous propaganda," Jones wrote in his follow-up letter to the organization.
Jones requested that the SPLC retract its release.
How was turnout in Alabama?
The Montgomery County Probate Court office said that polls ran smoothly today with no issues.
Voter turnout was about 19.3% as of 5:37 p.m., according to the county probate office.
According to the Alabama Secretary of State website, Montgomery County had a turnout of 20.78% in the 2022 primary and 36.56% in the general election.
The 2022 Alabama primary had a 23.4% voter turnout, with the general election having 38.6%.
Marine veteran got incorrect ballot information
Adigale Brooks is a disabled Marine veteran, and she was among those who received a postcard from the Montgomery County that misstated her congressional district.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that at least 5,604 Montgomery County voters received information that they were in the 7th Congressional District, instead of the newly established, majority-Black 2nd District. Of those 5,604 voters, 4,513 of them are Black, an SPLC spokesperson said.
Brooks, who is Black, knew her correct district ? the 2nd Congressional District ? and voted accordingly. But she also received strange calls misinforming her about what day to vote, she said.
“A lot of people probably fell for the bait, but I didn’t," Brooks said.
The misstep on the county's part made Brooks feel "like something going wrong with the system, and I hate it like that. ... But I knew exactly what to do," Brooks said.
Brooks voted to make sure the right people are in office and to support the amendment retaining taxes for the Montgomery Public Schools. “I want to do what’s right for the country," Brooks said.
She said she spoke to co-workers who said they were not going to vote because their votes did not matter, but Brooks heartily disagrees.
“All votes count," Brooks said. "Even one can change the election."
Brooks voted at the Pintlala Volunteer Fire Department in Hope Hull.
While Brooks' location had steady traffic Tuesday, the other Hope Hull polling location at First Southern Baptist Church was empty mid-afternoon.
The church, along a winding, rural road, saw two voters during a 30-minute span Tuesday. One of the two voters got her car stuck in the mud, and a poll worker had to drive to out for her.
Turnout very light in Autauga County
Turnout in Autauga County is very light by mid-afternoon on Super Tuesday. As of 2 p.m. a total of 5,871 votes has been cast county-wide, according to Probate Judge Kim Kervin. That total includes absentee ballots.
During the primary elections in 2022 the total number of ballots cast in the county was about 11,000, compared to about 13,000 in 2020.
Congress District 2 voters get wrong information
A representative from the Montgomery County Board of Registrars confirmed Tuesday that a portion of Montgomery voters got the wrong voting information ahead of the election.
Registrar Mark Anderson said on Super Tuesday that a mapping issue led to voters in the 2nd Congressional District being told that they were in a different district.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that at least 5,604 voters received information that they were in the 7th Congressional District, instead of the newly established, majority-Black 2nd District. Of those 5,604 voters, 4,513 of them are Black, an SPLC spokesperson said.
The SPLC became aware of the issue over the weekend. Some Montgomery County voters received postcards with the incorrect congressional district. SPLC co-founder Joe Levin was one of those voters.
The Alabama Reflector reported that the issue impacted about 4,600 Montgomery voters.
All Montgomery residents are in the newly created 2nd Congressional District. "It was just wrong," Anderson said.
A federal court ordered the 2nd Congressional District to be redrawn as a second majority-minority district, over the state's objections. It's now expected to lean Democrat.
“This is more than a misstep. Providing erroneous information to thousands of voters on the eve of a hotly contested primary election could very well impact the turnout and the results of the election, for both Republicans and Democrats,” said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director for democracy and voting rights at the SPLC. “There needs to be an immediate audit and public accounting from Secretary Wes Allen’s office on the scope of the problem.”
Alabamians at the polls: Voting is 'the right thing to do'
Several movements and organizations have promoted voting in the past few years, and voter participation has since increased.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Wendell Centy, saying people should vote “all the time” because of “the ways people in the world treat one another” and that every issue on the ballot was important.
Leon Battle, a former Lowndes County resident who now lives and votes in Montgomery, said he always votes, making sure that remained true when he moved. "I was always a resident voter," he said, "and I believe in voting.”
Many have been voting in every election possible since being eligible.
“I’m 67 now and I haven’t missed a vote since,” said Willy Holdren who’s said he’s been voting since he was 18.
Two voters at the Jerry Belk Activity Center in Tuscaloosa said the opportunity to make their voices heard brought them to the polls on Tuesday.
"I'm voting my conscience, I think we all have that (ideal)," said Phillip Williams. "I'm voting for the candidate that I think serves what's inside of me most of all."
Beth Springer said, "Primarily, it was important for me to support the local candidates, as well as statewide (candidates)."
Early Montgomery voters divided over school tax
One item on the ballot in Montgomery County is a referendum to renew a countywide school tax that annually brings in $11 million for Montgomery Public Schools and $1.2 million for Pike Road Schools. The tax has been in place for 40 years, and if voted through, will be collected for another 30.
Some Montgomery voters on Tuesday morning were vocally against supporting MPS with their tax dollars, and others were similarly passionate in favor of renewal.
“The cry in the education system is always, ‘Give us more money. Give us more money,’ and nothing really seems to improve,” retired educator Tom Ford said. “I think what the education system needs to do is learn to use the money they've got and use it wisely. Change some things they're doing to make a difference in kids' lives, and stop trying to get more and more money to mismanage.”
Reproductive rights, healthcare on voters' minds
After the Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that embryos frozen for in vitro fertilization maintain the same legal protection as children, there was an expectation that IVF access would become a motivating issue for voters on Super Tuesday.
Leading up to election day, Alabama led all Super Tuesday states in Google searches for IVF and related topics.
Also, several voters at First Christian Church in East Montgomery said their stances as pro-life or pro-choice informed the way they were voting across state and local elections. One voter said he was focusing on his position as "pro-family" above all else.
“The ruling probably didn’t change the way I voted, but it made it feel even more important,” Democrat voter Beth Wicker said. “Our constitution says there's supposed to be separation of religion and law, and that's not happening. I don't think the people who are doing this understand.”
Wicker also emphasized that every single vote is important, even if you're a Democrat in a deep red state like Alabama.
Turnout light at Prattville box
PRATTVILLE ? Turnout in the party primaries at one of Autauga County's largest precincts was lighter than expected Tuesday morning.
"We usually have 10 to 15 people standing in line when we open the doors," said Harold Hammond, chief inspector for the Trinity United Methodist Church site in Prattville. "This morning we opened the doors and no one was out there."
The forecast was calling for a 90 percent chance of rain in the area after noon.
Donuts delivered on election day
PRATTVILLE ? An Autauga County election day tradition continued with the sheriff providing glazed donuts to poll workers. Sheriff Mark Harrell and his deputies delivered 62 dozen donuts throughout the county's polling places.
The tradition goes back at least three decades and three sheriffs. Retired Sheriff Herbie Johnson was making the deliveries in the early 1990s and the effort continued under the late sheriff Joe Sedinger.
This is Harrell's first election cycle. It's a joke in the county ? with an air of seriousness ? that elections won't take place without the donuts.
For his part Harrell knew he had better deliver, in more ways than one.
He made three deliveries personally as polls opened, ending up at the Jones polling site. Jones is an unincorporated community in the far northwestern reaches of the county.
"I pulled up at Jones at 7:12 (a.m.) and I walked in, and they said 'We were about to call you,'" Harrell said with a laugh. "Everybody smiled when I walked in with those boxes. I asked them if they needed anything, if everything was going alright.
"All they wanted to talk about was the donuts."
What do I need to bring to the polls?
In Alabama, people need a photo ID to vote. They can use:
Alabama Driver's License, not expired more than 60 days
Valid Alabama non-driver identification card
Valid Alabama photo voter identification card
Valid state-issued I.D. (Alabama or any other state)
Valid United States passport or passport card
Valid Federal-issued identification card
Valid employee identification card from the federal government, state of Alabama, county government, municipality, board, authority or other entity of the state
Valid student or employee identification card from a college or university in the state of Alabama
Valid U.S. military identification card
Valid tribal identification card
Pistol permit, must have a photo and not be expired
Polls open in Alabama
Polling places across the state will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, barring any unforeseen circumstances. For example, back in 2022, Montgomery County voting times were extended by 45 minutes because of software malfunctions across a majority of polling places in the area.
As long as voters are in line to cast their ballots by 7 p.m., they will be allowed to vote after closing time.
For Democrats, incumbent President Joe Biden leads the race without any notable opponents, and former President Donald Trump is far ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the running for the Republican nomination.
Alabamians will also get the chance to vote on five of nine seats on the Alabama Supreme Court this year, but only one is contested: the position of chief justice. Justices in the state are elected for six year terms, and because of the imposed age limit of 70 years old, current Chief Justice Tom Parker could not seek reelection. The two conservative judges on the Republican ballot are Associate Justice Sarah Stewart and former state Sen. Bryan Taylor.
Other items on today's ballots include nominees for the recently redrawn 2nd Congressional District, three Montgomery County Commission seats, a State Board of Education seat, Montgomery County probate judge, a statewide constitutional amendment on the legislative process and a referendum on a significant education tax.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Super Tuesday in Alabama: Live updates from the polls