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Absentee voting is available if you meet any of the criteria below. If you qualify, you need to request your mail-in ballot either:

  • Five days before the election if you're applying in person, or
  • Seven days before if you're mailing your request.

Make sure your voted ballot is received by:

  • Noon on Election Day if you're mailing it, or
  • By the end of the day before Election Day if you're dropping it off in person.

Note: You can only use the official absentee ballot application form. Fill out the form and send it to the Absentee Election Manager's office in your county by mail or in person. You need to submit the application yourself, unless you've designated someone else to do it for you in case of a medical emergency. Make sure to complete this within five days of the election.

You can track your absentee ballot here.

Absentee Voting Eligibility 

You may cast an absentee ballot if you: 

  • Will be absent from the county on Election Day 

  • Are ill or have a physical disability that prevents a trip to the polling place 

  • Are a registered Alabama voter living outside the county 

  • Are an appointed election officer or poll watcher at a polling place other than your regular polling place 

  • You are working a required shift of ten hours or more that coincides with polling hours 

  • Are a caregiver for a family member (to the second degree of kinship) and the family member is confined to their home

  • Are not barred from voting because of a disqualifying felony conviction or, if you were were convicted of a disqualifying felony, you have had your right to vote restored. 

Business and Medical Emergencies

If you have an urgent work issue or a medical emergency and missed the deadline to vote by mail, you can still apply to vote late. Just make sure to do it before 5:00 pm the day before the election for work emergencies, or before noon on the day of the election for medical emergencies. You may use this option if: 

  • You are required by an employer under unforeseen circumstances to be out of the county on Election Day for an emergency business trip 

  • You are a caregiver of a person who requires emergency treatment by a licensed physician within 5 days before an election 

  • You have a family member to the second degree of kinship by affinity or consanguinity die within 5 days before an election 

  • You have a medical emergency requiring treatment from a licensed physician 

If the absentee ballot application is approved, the absentee election manager forwards the absentee ballot by U.S. Mail or personally hands the absentee ballot to you (or to a designee in the case of emergency voting). 

Ballot Receipt/Return 

You can return the absentee ballot: 

  • By US mail 

  • By personally handing the absentee ballot to the absentee election manager (or designee in case of medical emergency absentee voting) 

  • By commercial carrier 

Your voted absentee ballot must be postmarked by the day before the election and be received by noon on Election Day. If you're handing it in yourself, make sure to give it to the Absentee Election Manager's office before the end of the business day (by 5 pm) on the day before the election.

ID Requirements

If you vote an absentee ballot you must submit a copy of a valid photo ID. If you are entitled to vote absentee through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, or any other federal law, you are not required to show the photo ID when voting absentee. 

Assistance

If you require assistance voting your absentee ballot due to blindness, a disability, or inability to read or write, you may receive assistance from another individual of your choosing other than your employer, an agent of your employer, or an agent or officer of your union. Your absentee voting application must be signed by you and a witness.

Voting in Person 

Those who requested an absentee ballot but end up voting in person may only do so by a provisional ballot. Do not mail a ballot and vote in person. For specifics, you can find your local county clerk contact info here.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

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