Runoff election April 16

WINSTON COUNTY     -  Winston County voters will be returning to the polls on Tuesday, April 16, to cast ballots to determine the winners in two runoffs, including county commission chairman and county board of education  Addison district 4.
Each of Winston County’s 18 polling sites will have ballots to determine the commission chairman run-off between David Cummings and Bobby Everett, neither of whom had the 50 percent plus one vote.
However, only the five polling sites in Addison district 4 will vote for the BOE run-off between incumbent Randy Lee and Ted Alexander, according to county election officials.
These sites include Moreland Fire Department, Houston Methodist Church, Upshaw Fire Department, Addison Community Center and Nesmith Church, stressed Election Officer Sheila Moore.
The Addison district 4 polling sites will also vote for the commission chairman run-off, since that office is voted countywide, Moore explained.
Polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. during the April 16 runoff, according to election officials.
Issues regarding incorrect street files for some voters at the Nesmith Church polling site--which is a split precinct--have been corrected, Moore pointed out.
In fact, Letters of Explanation to the voters in that precinct were being sent out this week, along with a new voter registration card explaining the error, Moore said.
During the primary election, voters brought to the attention of both polling workers and the board of registrar’s office at the Nesmith Church polling site, that they were not voting in the correct BOE race, or the race that matched the precinct where they lived, Moore explained.
The voters, who went to Nesmith to vote in the Arley or district  5 school board district, were given a ballot to vote in the Addison BOE district 4 race, based on the precinct part and street file that were assigned to those voters back in 2011, election officials stated.
The reason the issue of incorrect street files at the Nesmith precinct has just now come to light is that no offices including the county school superintendent or any board member in the Arley and Addison area has had opposition since the street files were assigned back in 2011, Moore explained.
After the issue was brought to light in the March 5 primary, Moore contacted the Secretary of State’s office.
“They said since it was brought to our attention, we had to get it corrected before the run-off,” Moore emphasized. “...Everything will be right for the run-off election.”
Concerning the April 16 runoff, Moore stated the only party ballot a voter can choose is Republican, since only Republican offices are on the ballot.
“The only ballot you are going to have is a Republican ballot,” Moore emphasized. “So if you voted a Democrat party ballot in the primary election, you will not be able to vote in the runoff.”
However, if a voter marked just the constitutional amendment ballot in the primary, or if they did not vote in the primary, they will be able to vote in the runoff, Moore continued.
Moore hopes that voters will turn out at the polls and vote in the runoff election.
“People just need to go out and vote, because it is usually a lower turnout,” Moore emphasized.
“If you went out and voted in the primary, go back out and vote in the runoff, because these offices, like I’ve said in the past, are just as important as a national or a state office, because they help run our county schools and our county in general, so those are very important offices.
“People need to go out and support their candidates and go vote,” Moore continued.
The first day a voter can apply for an absentee ballot in preparation for the runoff was March 19, at the Winston County Commission office, where absentee election manager Dallas Baldwin works, county officials said.
The last day to vote an absentee ballot in person at the commission office is April 11.
Those who need to update their voter registration need to go by the Winston County Board of Registrar’s office in the courthouse in Double Springs or call (205) 489-3966.
The last day a person can register to vote before the runoff election is April 2, according to Moore.
“If you want to check your voter registration, to make sure you are eligible to vote, you can contact the Winston County Board of Registrar’s...or you can go onto the Alabama Secretary of State’s website,” Moore informed voters.
That website is sos.alabama.gov, where they can click on the voter  section and check their voter eligibility, or they can register to vote online at the site, according to election officials.
Public testing of the county’s voting machines will be April 10, at 8 a.m. in the basement of the courthouse annex in Double Springs, Moore noted.

Reason for six weeks between
primary and runoff

The time span between the March 5 primary and April 16 runoff is six weeks this year, instead of the typical four week span, due to the original four-week span placing the runoff during the Easter holiday around the end of March, election officials said.
“We didn’t want the voting machines at the churches because they would have a lot of people there,” said Moore. “The Alabama Probate Judges Association had a major concern.”
In sight of these concerns, the state legislature made the decision to expand the time between primary and runoff to six weeks for 2024, according to election officials.
“In 2026, it will go back to a four-week runoff,” said Moore.