WINSTON COUNTY - Be an informed voter, is the message election officials are sending out in preparation for the upcoming general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Officials are wanting to make sure the voting public understands not only where each candidate stands on the issues, but also the meaning of the amendments that will be on the general election ballot. Much of the attention regarding the Nov. 3, general election has been on the U.S. Presidential race after recent heated debates between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, or the Alabama U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Tommy Tuberville.
However, the amendments also on the ballot are key to the future of not only voting , but also the state’s judicial system and should not be overlooked, but studied closely in order to understand them.
Six statewide amendments will be listed on the ballot, the first of which deals with people not being allowed to vote unless they are U.S. citizens. Amendments 2, 3, and 4 deal with the state judicial system; amendment 5 is related to Franklin County and amendment 6 pertains to Lauderdale County.
Winston County Election Officer J.D. Snoddy, by law, cannot tell people how to vote on amendments, but he can explain the amendments to help the public know better the issues before they mark their ballots yes or no.
Many times the voting public, when not understanding an amendment, will simply vote no, Snoddy emphasized.
Snoddy explained this should not be the case. He added that wording of the amendments sometimes is tricky, with some people voting yes when they might wish to vote no.
“Folks need to educate themselves,” Snoddy said. “There’s a lot of information out there. Different groups provide information.
“Obviously, these amendments are important to the situations they are involved in,” Snoddy continued. “They (voters) just need to find out all the information they can about it.
“Ask people who are involved in those particular situations,” Snoddy continued. “Folks who are involved usually know what is going on.”
State election officials agree that wording of these amendments can often be confusing to voters, so the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama - an independent, non-partisan non-profit organization - has created a break-down of the amendments, with PARCA Senior Research Associate Thomas Spencer putting the amendments into a simpler form.
Amendment 1, proposes to amend Article VIII of the Alabama Constitution By voting yes, the amendment would provide that only a citizen of the U.S. has a right to vote.
Officials explained that the state constitution currently allows “every” U.S. citizen a right to vote. The amendment, if approved by a yes vote, would read that “only” U.S. citizens could vote. The simple changing of a word can change the entire meaning of what the voter is considering.
A concern from officials has been that in some races around the country, that non-citizens have been allowed to vote.
“If you vote yes, you are saying that only a citizen of the United States has a right to vote,” Snoddy added. “If you vote no, then other people can have the right to vote who are not United States citizens.”
Snoddy further explained that identification required by voters at polling sites before they can be allowed to vote does not necessarily mean that voter is a citizen of the U.S.
“You can get different types of government IDs,” Snoddy said. “Government IDs are a form of ID as far as elections.
“That’s the thing. They are going to have to have some way to investigate this and prove somebody is a United States citizen,” Snoddy added.
Social media users have been questioning the meaning of Amendment 2, which is the most lengthy and detailed of the six amendments on the ballot.
Overall, Amendment 2 would make changes to the Judicial Inquiry Commission, a body that investigates misconduct by judges, removing them if they are found guilty, state officials further explained.
It would expand the number of people on the panel from nine to 11.
This would primarily end the practice of automatically suspending a judge when an investigation of misconduct begins, officials said.
The amendment would eliminate one or two ways a judge can be removed from the bench. Currently, judges can be removed through the commission or impeached and removed by the state legislature. The amendment would stipulate that only the Commission could remove judges.
This amendment, by explanation, would also make changes to the state’s judicial system by ending the practice of the chief justice of the state Supreme Court appointing the administrative director of courts.
“Right now, that person is appointed by the chief justice, and this amendment would change that,” Snoddy explained.
“What happens is every time a chief justice changes, then they can appoint their own administrative director of courts,” Snoddy pointed out.
Instead, if Amendment 2 is approved, that position would be hired by all nine Supreme Court justices.
The amendment would also require the legislature to establish procedures for the appointment of the administrative director of courts.
The amendment would also delete the requirement that a district court hold court in each incorporated municipality with a population of 1,000 or more where no municipal court is held, according to further wording of Amendment 2.
The process of filling vacancies in the office of judge may be changed by a local constitutional amendment, if Amendment 2 passes.
Amendment 2 would also delete certain language relating to the position of constables holding more than one state office.
Amendment 3 would provide that a judge, other than a probate judge, being appointed to fill a vacancy would serve an initial term until the first Monday after the second Tuesday in January following the next general election after the judge had completed two years in office, the amendment reads.
Currently, when a judge is appointed to fill a vacancy, that term is one year, with he or she going before voters in the next general election in order to stay on the bench. All Amendment 3 would do is lengthen that term to two years.
Amendment 4 would authorize the Legislature to recompile the state constitution and submit it during the 2022 legislative session, as well as provide a process for the ratification by state voters.
The Alabama Constitution has been described as the most lengthy document in the world, nearing 950 amendments. Many of those amendments only apply to individual counties.
Amendment 4 could cause these amendments to be regrouped by the counties they affect. When this process is done, the constitution would then go before the state legislature. If approved by the legislature, the revised constitution would then go before voters.
Amendments 5 relates solely to Franklin County providing that a person is not liable for using deadly physical force in self-defense or in the defense of another person on the premises of a church or under certain conditions.
Amendment 6 relates solely to Lauderdale County, providing the same language as Amendment 5.
Snoddy explained why statewide voters have to vote for amendments not pertaining to their county.
“County commissions can’t make laws,” Snoddy stressed. “Any law that’s having to be passed that solely affects your county is a constitutional amendment.
“The legislature has to make the laws. Then, they sometimes have to be voted upon by the people, if they come into the form of a constitutional amendment,” Snoddy added.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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