Absentee voting, polling places and voter status ahead of election

The 2025 municipal elections are coming up on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Residents will be voting for both mayor and city council positions.

Any residents who are not sure about their over registration status or polling location can visit the Alabama Secretary of State website — www.sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes.

Information on the election, district maps, absentee voting, etc., can be found there.

Click on “My Voting Information” — myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview — to look up voter registration status and polling location.

In order to vote absentee, a ballot may be downloaded at www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/absentee-forms/Current/Colbert%20AEMForm.pdf.

According to the SOS website, Absentee ballot applications delivered by mail must be received in the office of the Absentee Election Manager no later than 7 days prior to the election. Applications returned by hand must be received in the office of the Absentee Election Manager no later than 5 days prior to the election.

An absentee ballot returned by mail must be received by the Absentee Election Manager no later than noon on election day. If hand-delivered, the ballot must be in the office of the Absentee Election Manager by the close of business (but no later than 5 p.m.) on the day prior to the election.

The Absentee Election Manager for Colbert County is Mark R. Eady.

A voter may cast an absentee ballot if he or she

• EXPECTS TO BE ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY on election day
• IS ILL OR HAS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY that prevents a trip to the polling place
• IS PHYSICALLY INCAPACITATED AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE IN PERSON BECAUSE THEY CANNOT ACCESS THEIR ASSIGNED POLLING PLACE DUE TO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING DISABILITIES (neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, or other life-altering disorder that affects his or her ability to perform manual tasks, stand for any length of time, walk unassisted, see, hear or speak) AND: A) HE OR SHE IS AN ELDERLY VOTER AGED 65 OR OLDER; OR B) HE OR SHE IS A VOTER WITH A DISABILITY
• IS A REGISTERED ALABAMA VOTER LIVING OUTSIDE THE COUNTY, such as a member of the armed forces, a voter employed outside the United States, a college student, or a spouse or child of such a person
• IS AN APPOINTED ELECTION OFFICER OR POLL WATCHER at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place
• EXPECTS TO WORK A REQUIRED SHIFT, 10-HOURS OR MORE, that coincides with polling hours
• IS A CAREGIVER for a family member to the second degree of kinship by affinity or consanguinity and the family member is confined to his or her home
• IS CURRENTLY INCARCERATED in prison or jail and has not been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude

To obtain an absentee ballot, write or visit the local Absentee Election Manager (usually the Circuit Clerk), request an absentee ballot, and provide the following:

• name and residential address (or other such information in order to verify voter registration)
• a copy of your valid photo identification
• election for which the ballot is requested
• reason for absence from polls on election day
• party choice, if the election is a party primary. (It is not necessary to give a party choice for a general election; however, in a party primary a voter may participate in only one political party’s primary; thus a choice must be designated so that the appropriate ballot can be provided. If the voter declines or fails to designate a choice for a primary or primary runoff ballot, the absentee election manager may send only the ballot for constitutional amendments.)
• address to which the ballot should be mailed
• voter signature. (Signature must be original, electronic signatures will not be accepted. If a mark is made in place of a signature, it must be witnessed.)