Office of Sustainability

To submit an application to register to vote, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must be a citizen of the United States.
• You must live in the State of Alabama.
• You must be at least 18 years of age on or before election day.
• You must not be barred from voting by reason of a disqualifying felony conviction.
• You must not have been judged “mentally incompetent” in a court of law.

A registered Alabama voter may cast an absentee ballot if s/he:

• 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 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; OR
• is currently incarcerated in prison or jail and has not been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude.

The Alabama Secretary of State declared an emergency absentee rule that allows anybody registered to vote in Alabama the right to submit an absentee ballot, due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.  

When filling out your absentee ballot, all you need to do is select the box which reads as follows:

“I have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents my attendance at the polls. [ID Required]”*

Follow all the other instructions related to absentee voting to ensure your ballot is counted in November!

*You are allowed to mark this even if you do not have COVID-19.

Even if you were found guilty of a felony, you may be able to have your voting rights restored in the state of Alabama.  More information on the restoration of voting rights can be obtained from the Alabama Bureau of Pardons & Paroles.  

Per the Secretary of State’s State of Emergency guidance, you should select the “I have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents my attendance at the polls. [ID Required]” option on the Application for an Absentee Ballot. 

If you are a registered voter in Lee County, Alabama send your Absentee Ballot Application AND a photocopy of your valid voter identification to:

Lee County Absentee Elections Office

PO Box 1616

Opelika, AL 36803

NO WAY! Each application must be mailed separately, even if they’re coming from the same household. 

No, not unless you are signing the application with a mark, rather than a signature.

YES, include a photocopy of your valid voter identification (ID) with your Absentee Ballot Application. If you are going to the Lee County Courthouse to submit your application and ballot in person, you do not need to make a photocopy of your ID, but you will need to have your ID with you.

Absolutely! This is really the easiest way to do it! 

Head to the Lee County Absentee Election Office at the Lee County Courthouse beginning September 21 with your valid ID. If you are already a registered voter in Lee County, Alabama you can fill out and return your Absentee Ballot Application AND complete and cast your ballot right then and there!

If you are not registered to vote, or your registration information is not up to date (you have moved or changed your name since you registered), you can update your information at the Board of Registrars office, which is conveniently right next door to the Absentee Election office!

Yes! But be prepared to wait for your absentee ballot to arrive in the mail. Typically, absentee ballots are not available for distribution until 45 calendar days before the election, which is September 19th. 

If you mail in your application in August or September and don’t get your ballot in the mail by October 1, call the Lee County Absentee Election manager’s office at 334-737-3490.

Alabama Code Title 17. Elections § 17-11-5 dictates when the local absentee election manager must provide you with your absentee ballot.  Per the code, upon receipt of an application for an absentee ballot as provided in Section 17-11-3 , if the applicant’s name appears on the list of qualified voters produced from the state voter registration list in the election to be held, or if the voter makes an affidavit for a challenged vote or provisional ballot, the absentee election manager shall furnish the absentee ballot to the applicant by:  (1) Forwarding it by United States mail to the applicant’s or voter’s residence address or, upon written request of the voter, to the address where the voter regularly receives mail or (2) by handing the absentee ballot to the voter in person or, in the case of emergency voting, his or her designee in person. 

The absentee election manager shall mail any absentee ballot requested to be mailed as provided in Section 17-11-3 no later than the next business day after an application has been received unless the absentee ballots have not been delivered to the absentee election manager. If the absentee ballots have not been so delivered, the absentee election manager shall hold all requests until the ballots are delivered and shall then respond by placing ballots in the mail no later than the next business day. 

YES. You will probably be required to vote a provisional ballot at your polling location if the Absentee Election office marked you down as an absentee voter.  

The actual ballot itself is not notarized or signed by a witness, BUT one of the envelopes you return your ballot in must be signed by you, in the presence of two witnesses (who then sign) OR a notary (who then notarizes).

A photocopy of your ID is only required when you request a ballot.

Absolutely! This is really the easiest way to do it! 

Head to the Lee County Absentee Election Office at the Lee County Courthouse beginning September 21 with your valid ID. If you are already a registered voter in Lee County, Alabama you can fill out and return your Absentee Ballot Application AND complete and cast your ballot right then and there!

If you are not registered to vote, or your registration information is not up to date (you have moved or changed your name since you registered), you can update your information at the Board of Registrars office, which is conveniently right next door to the Absentee Election office!

NO; an absentee ballot must be hand-delivered by the absentee voter.

The Alabama Secretary of State has a handy-dandy tracking tool for absentee ballots. 

The envelope containing your absentee ballot has a barcode on it. When it arrives at the Absentee Election office, the barcode is scanned, and the date it is scanned will be reported to the Absentee Ballot Search website. 

YES. You will be asked to vote a provisional ballot, but that ballot will be counted IF the absentee election manager did not receive a ballot from you.

If you are a registered voter in Lee County, Alabama the Absentee Election Manager for Lee County, James Majors, determines if you are a qualified voter (basically, if your name is on the list of registered voters, you have filled out the application correctly, and you have included your a copy of your ID, you are a qualified voter). If he determines you are a qualified voter, then by law, he is required to mail your absentee ballot and materials to you by the next business day.

Each prospective qualified absentee voter will receive a packet furnished with the absentee ballot, together with three envelopes for returning his or her marked ballot, and instructions for completing and returning the absentee ballot, as well as instructions for correcting mistakes in completing ballots or obtaining a replacement ballot. 

One envelope shall be a secrecy envelope in which the ballot shall be sealed by the voter after s/he has marked it. The second envelope shall have the voter’s affidavit printed on the back and shall be large enough to seal the secrecy ballot envelope inside.  The third envelope shall be a pre-addressed return mail envelope.

Such return mail envelope shall be addressed on the front to the absentee election manager and shall be endorsed on the left-hand upper corner thereof as follows:

“Absent Voter’s Ballot.  State, County, Municipal, General, Primary, or Special Election (as the case may be) to be held on the ․․․ day of ․․․․, 2․․․․ From ․․․․․․ (name of voter), precinct or districts ․․․․․․․․․, County of ․․․․․․․, Alabama.”

After marking the ballot and subscribing the oath herein required, the voter shall seal his or her ballot in the secrecy envelope, place that secrecy envelope inside the affidavit envelope, complete the affidavit in front of the witness(es), have a notary public (or other officer authorized to acknowledge oaths) OR two witnesses witness his or her signature to the affidavit, place the completed affidavit envelope in the return mail envelope, and forward it by United States mail to the absentee election manager or hand it to him/her in person.

Nope! The absentee election manager doesn’t compare the address on your application with the address on your ID when determining if you are a qualified voter. Also, you can use other forms of ID that do not list an address, such as a US Passport or your Auburn University student/employee ID card.

If the address on your application does not match the address where you are registered to vote, that’s a problem. Make sure you are registered to vote at your current address by using the Voter Registration Verification Tool prior to applying for and casting your absentee ballot. 

No! You qualify as an UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) voter. The process is different for you and the voting period opens for you on September 9th. Refer to the instructions for UOCAVA voters on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website. 

Absentee ballots are treated just like regular ballots cast in the election! The county absentee manager collects them in a secure location during the absentee voting period. On election day, the absentee voting office essentially turns into a polling location. 

Election clerks and a chief appointed by the county are given all of the absentee ballots and a list of voters that submitted an Absentee Ballot Application. The chief and poll clerks open all of the outer envelopes, verify the voter signed their affidavit, and verify the voter had their affidavit notarized or witnessed by two people. If a voter has done all of these things, the envelope containing their ballot is moved into the “COUNT” pile. After all of the outer envelopes have been opened, all envelopes in the “COUNT” pile are then opened in order to retrieve the ballots. The ballots are then fed into the machine — the same kind of machine that is used at the polls. The results are printed and sent to the probate judge just like they are at every other polling location on election day.

According to Alabama Code Title 17, the official ballots for any election shall be in the same form as the official regular ballots for the election, except that they shall have printed thereon the words, “Official Absentee Ballot.”