Voters head to the polls for Alabama’s primaries

by Justin Walker

Montgomery County, Ala. (WAKA) – Alabama’s primary elections are underway, as polls opened early Tuesday morning.

Frazer Church is just one of about 50 voting precincts in Montgomery County. An Action 8 News crew saw a steady amount of voters coming through to make their choices.

Montgomery County Probate Judge JC Love says he expects turnout to be really high Tuesday, because statewide races are on the ballots. Alabamians are also voting in local races, as well as some constitutional amendments.

While poll workers tell us things have been going smoothly so far, a few voters say they had some trouble finding the right place to vote, because their location at Frazer Church had changed.

“I’ve been voting at this location for some time and we normally vote on the other side of Fraser Church. And there was a big crowd of us gathered there, where do we go, because the doors were locked. So the location at Fraser changed and there’s no signage that the location changed. People got frustrated and left,” says Oleye Adeyela Bennett.

Eventually, Bennett and her family were able to find the right location and were able to cast their ballots.

“As a naturalized American citizen, I realize the importance of voting, especially in this election. That’s why I came out,” says Bennett.

The primaries come in the midst of a redistricting battle in Alabama, after the United States Supreme Court gave the go ahead to allow the state to use 2023 Congressional maps. The Alabama Legislature just finished a special session in Montgomery to redraw Congressional and State Senate district lines. Lawmakers passed bills for special primary elections in affected districts, which Governor Kay Ivey signed into law.

The special session followed U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down down Louisiana’s congressional map in the landmark case Louisiana v. Callais. By a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled that creating a second majority-Black district was not required by the Voting Rights Act and constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

“It’s important that we vote now, especially with the Callais decision. And really the attack of the Voting Rights Act, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. And it’s now more important than ever. I think about John Lewis and the people on the Edmund Pettis Bridge and the beating that they suffered just marching for their right to vote and for other people to vote,” says voter Bradley Bennett.

Voters reiterated the importance of this year’s elections and say people need to get out and exercise their right to vote.

“We need to come out here to vote because the only way to make change is if we vote. Sitting home is not going to change anything, so we have to come out here and vote people in place that is going to make that change. So that’s why it’s so important,” says voter Dallis Thomas.

If you are in line when polls close, you will still be allowed to vote. Polls close at 7 p.m.