How three new bills could affect absentee voting in Alabama
Three new bills dealing with absentee ballots have been drafted by Alabama lawmakers for the upcoming legislative session.
HB 23, filed by Rep. Kenyatté Hassell, D-Montgomery, would remove the list of reasons for voting by absentee ballot. Currently, voters must check their reason for voting absentee on the absentee ballot application, then again on the absentee ballot.
SB 1, introduced by state Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, will make it illegal for individuals to pay or be paid for assisting others in completing absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications.
"SB1 will help strengthen Alabama's absentee voting process," Gudger said, "while protecting voters who are disabled and protecting our overseas military voters."
Gudger also said the bill will help prevent the issue of ballot harvesting in that state.
Meanwhile, Rep. Adline Clarke, D- Mobile, filed HB 12, a bill designed to allow a disabled voter to designate an individual to deliver the voter's application for an absentee ballot to the absentee election manager.
But Clarke said she is "considering filing and introducing a new version" of the bill in light of SB 1, saying it "is still a bad bill" that will prevent Good Samaritans from helping those in need of assistance vote.
"It's a confusing process and young and old alike often need assistance with the absentee ballot application," she said, "and definitely with completing and returning their ballots and affidavits."
The issue of who can help a voter with a ballot has become a target for some Republican lawmakers across the nation, often facing opposition from voting rights organizations.
"We should be able to assist voters without fear of prosecution," Kathy Jones, president of League of Women Voters of Alabama, said in a statement.
Jones also said she expects the state to receive multiple lawsuits if SB 1 passes, saying that is violates the Voting Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.
"We don't have a problem with people coming in and harvesting ballots in Alabama," she said, adding that the bill's restrictions "are really aimed at reducing voter turnout" from college-age and disabled voters.
The Alabama legislative session is set to begin Feb. 6.
Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com. To support his work, subscribe to Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama voting: How three new bills could impact absentee voting
