Absentee ballot applications available starting March 30

WINSTON COUNTY      -  The reason the primary election was moved to Tuesday, May 24, from its original June time slot, was so that the runoff election would not fall during the Independence Day holiday.
A state law passed in 2019, moved the run-off election to four weeks after a primary, so by moving the primary election to May 24, that would put the run-off election on Tuesday, June 21, according to election officials.
“They just moved it back to a four-week run-off like other states,” noted Winston County Probate Judge Sheila Moore.
The change will revert back to the former law that noted  a run-off would be four weeks after a primary, according to Moore.
As the election is now a little over two months away, preparations need to begin now for voters, including the process of absentee voting, noted  Moore, who will also be election manager for the primary.
J.D. Snoddy, who is the county’s absentee election manager, had to recuse himself from the position this election cycle, since a family member is running for political office.
The first day to apply for an absentee ballot is March 30. Instead of calling the circuit clerk’s office, as in the past, those applying for an absentee ballot need to come by or contact the Winston County Probate Judge’s office at 205-489-5219.
The voter’s name and address will be recorded and an application sent out, according to Moore.  
A new law requires the voter to submit a copy of their driver’s license or photo ID along with the application, in order to receive an absentee ballot, Moore stressed.
In the past, these IDs were required when mailing in their absentee ballot, but this law has replaced that, according to county officials.
“Now, you have to have a photo ID when you send in your application, before we send out a ballot,” Moore stated. “They have to send it in prior to receiving a ballot.”
Address for sending in application and ballots will be P.O. Box 220, Double Springs, Al. 35553.
“(The ID) has to be valid. It cannot be expired over 60 days,” Moore emphasized.
Absentee applications returned by mail with their ID, must be received at the probate office  no later than May 17.
Absentee applications must be returned by hand or in person by May 19, Moore added.
Each application to vote absentee must be submitted in a separate envelope, if more than one person in the same household is voting absentee, according to Moore.
“We cannot have multiple applications in one envelope,” she said.
“No one else can turn in an absentee ballot application for you,” she added. “It has to be that individual.”
The last day a person can register to vote for the May 24 primary election will be May 9.
If a voter has a change in name or address or need to register to vote, he or she can go online to the Alabama Secretary of State’s website at sos.alabama.gov, according to Moore.
They can also go by the board of registrar’s office, which is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the courthouse in Double Springs.
The polling list of registered voters in Winston County, will be published in the Alabamian on May 4.
“They need to look at the poll list, to see if they are registered to vote, if they are in the right precinct and if their address is correct,” Moore pointed out.
A supplement voters list will be published in May 18, so voters are urged to have their information corrected by this date, according to election officials.
“It is very important  that your name, if you  have gotten married, your last name has changed, that you have got the right information on your voter  registration as it shows on your ID,” Moore said.
“Your address needs to be corrected, if you have not voted in a while. If you are an inactive voter, you have to fill out an update form,” Moore said.
Voters are urged to go ahead and contact the board of registrar’s or at the Secretary of State’s website, to make sure their information is updated and correct.
On election day, May 24, voters will go to the polling site in their respective precincts and sign  the polling pad, which is now done electronically, in order to receive a ballot.
Since this will be a primary election, voters must also specify when they sign in whether they are voting Republican or Democrat, and will be given the respective ballot matching their choice, officials said.

Nesmith polling
site changed

The only change in polling sites for the May 24 primary election will be in the Nesmith area, Moore stressed.
“Back when we did the redistricting lines, the county commission, board of registrars, about eight or 10 years ago, the north side of (Highway) 278  became Addison precinct, the south side was Nesmith precinct,” Moore explained.
Voters who lived on the side of Highway 278 that voted at Nesmith were having to go to Addison to vote, Moore said. Those across the highway were having to come and vote at the Nesmith precinct, she added.
When officials studied the voter precinct map, they determined that part of that was not in the Nesmith precinct, so the county commission passed a resolution based on state and election laws that the voting precinct has to be within the precinct lines, Moore further explained.
This meant the polling site was moved from the Nesmith Community Center, which sits on one side of Highway 278, across the highway (actually in the Addison precinct) to Nesmith Church, located at 10041 Helicon Road, which would therefore fall under the Nesmith precinct or Precinct 16, according to election officials.
The polling location for 16 was actually in Precinct 15 or the Addison precinct, county officials said.
Winston County Commission Chairman Roger Hayes noted the polling site change was for the betterment of the entire situation.
“The community had requested it,” Hayes stated. “If they had requested it, and the judge of probate requested it, we don’t generally have a problem with that.
“Although it generally has to come through us, we’re glad to accommodate the folks on it,” Hayes added. “It’s supposed to be a better voting precinct, from what I understood.”
“The voters were voting in the right precinct,” Moore continued. “It was just the building  was in the wrong precinct. So nobody was voting illegally. The location of the building just needed to be changed to get it in the right precinct.”
The church actually sits behind the Exxon station in Nesmith, according to Moore.
Highway 278 was actually the boundary line separating the new voting precincts, Moore noted.
“(The community center) was in the wrong precinct, and we had to get it corrected,” she said. The community center was in the Nesmith voting precinct, until the precinct lines were redrawn several years ago, she noted.
The Winston County Board of Registrars office has been mailing Nesmith voters, who had voted at the community center, a notice that they will now vote at Nesmith Church, less than a quarter of a mile away, officials said.
Nesmith currently has 233 active voters, and 25 inactive voters, according to the board of registrars office.
“This is not adding or subtracting voters from any precinct,” Moore emphasized. “We’re just getting the polling center into the right precinct for the voters.”
Signs will also be posted on election day notifying voters in Nesmith they will now be voting at Nesmith Church, Moore continued.