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Voting Rights Act

With the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Calais, and its subsequent application to Alabama’s Congressional redistricting, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been all but repealed.With no federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 to rely on, it is time for the people of Alabama to have one of their own: the Alabama Voting Rights Act (“AVRA”) of 2027.

The AVRA can be a reality, in January 2027,  by electing Wayne Rogers as our new Alabama Secretary of State on November 3, 2026.

The AVRA has five major parts:

  • Campaign Finance Reform – Alabama’s Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA) brought many positive changes to the state’s campaign finance laws. Primarily, the FCPA brought more transparency as to where candidates get the money that fuels their campaigns. But the FCPA does not go nearly far enough. In fact, the FCPA places no restrictions on the amount of money that anyone (or any entity) can donate to any one candidate’s campaign. Most Alabamians have no idea that this gap in campaign law exists … but the folks seeking to influence candidates know. As of this writing, at least thirty-seven (37) separate donations of $100,000 or more have been given to candidates running in 2026. Fourteen (14) of those donations have gone to a single candidate: GOP gubernatorial candidate Tommy Tuberville. The AVRA would limit campaign contributions by any one individual, business, PAC or other entity to $27,000 during any one elections cycle. $27,000 is what the average Alabamian earns in six months. No one should be able to give more than six months’ salary of the average Alabama worker to a single campaign.
  • Early Voting – Alabama is one of only three (3) states that does not allow early voting of any kind. (Mississippi and New Hampshire being the other two.) However, Alabama already has a 42 day absentee voting period, but with restrictive rules for qualifying to vote absentee. The AVRA would adapt Alabama’s absentee voting period into a straight-forward early voting period, allowing voters to cast ballots in person at their County Clerk’s Office for the 42 days before the Election Day. Since the Clerk’s Office is required to have personnel there for absentee voting already, this adaptation would not increase government election expenses.
  • Saturday Voting – Most Americans have no idea why elections are almost always held on Tuesday. The tradition actually predates the nation. Seventeenth century American farmers would come to “market day” on Tuesday morning, then gather in the Town Hall to cast their ballots that afternoon. Tuesdays as Election Day make no sense in 21st Century America, except to lower voter participation. Five states (Louisiana, Hawaii, Maine, South Carolina and Texas) have moved their state elections to the day of the week when most Americans would find voting most convenient: Saturday. The AVRA would move Alabama’s state and municipal elections from Tuesday to Saturday. As a further enhancement of voting rights, the AVRA would also provide that when a federal election is scheduled for Tuesday, polls would also be open on the Saturday before that election, giving voters the option of coming on either day.
  • Voter Registration at Age 16 – When I turned 18, I was already away at college and had no opportunity to register to vote before the Presidential Election in November 1980. Alabama has remedied that specific issue by allowing voter pre-registration at the age of seventeen and a half. The AVRA would reduce the age of pre-registration down to sixteen, allowing voter registration at the same time a young Alabamian gets their first driver’s license. Eighteen (18) states have lowered the age of pre-registration to 16, while four (4) more allow pre-registration at 17, bringing increases in young voter participation.
  • Elimination of Straight Ticket Voting – The final major provision of the AVRA would bring Alabama in line with 44 other states that have ended the practice of allowing voters to cast one vote that then applies to all candidates from the same party. Under current Alabama law, the “top of the ticket” on any ballot is not the Governor’s race, or a Senate race, or even a Presidential race … it’s the race between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The AVRA would remove this option and allow voters to choose the candidates that they want to vote for rather than just the party. Candidates for public office should be elected based on their qualifications for office, not on what party they belong to.