SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Thousands made their way to the polls on June 5 to decide who should represent their party for political offices across the state of Alabama ahead of November’s election. Many races, however, were too close to decide a winner, creating a runoff election on Tuesday, July 17.
One fact to remember heading into the runoff is crossover voting in primary elections is banned in the state of Alabama. This means, for example, those who voted on a Democratic Party ticket will not be allowed, under state law signed in August, 2017, to vote on a Republican Party ticket in the runoff.
Voter turnout numbers were low on June 5 throughout the state of Alabama. Alabama has over 3.3 million registered voters, only 897,496 (26.57 percent) came out to vote according to the Alabama Secretary of State website.
The numbers in Talladega County were even lower. Over 75 percent of registered voters in Talladega County did not cast a ballot in June. In total, only 12,659 of the nearly 54,000 people registered made their opinion known in the primary election.
Of all surrounding counties, Talladega boasted the lowest voter turnout. In comparison, Coosa County saw a 36 percent turnout, Clay County sat at 44 percent, 25 percent of voters in Shelby County participated and 27 percent of Tallapoosa County voters casted a ballot.
With just over a week to prepare for the runoff, check our sample ballots.
Talladega County
- Democrat – no runoff
- Republican
Clay County
- Democrat – no runoff
- Republican
Coosa County
- Democrat – no runoff
- Republican
Shelby County
- Democrat – no runoff
- Republican
Tallapoosa County
