Absentee ballots

Alabama lawmakers have approved a bill that would outlaw paid assistance for help with absentee ballot applications. They also approved another Tuesday that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities, schools and state agencies.

Republicans in the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday advanced a bill to prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities and state agencies. The House also approved legislation to make it a crime to pay someone for collecting absentee ballot applications.

Alabama legislators began debate on legislation to restrict assistance with absentee ballot applications. The bill is part of a GOP push to combat so-called ballot harvesting but that Democrats called an effort to discourage voting by alternate means.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey called for absentee ballot restrictions during her State of the State address, which aired “live” on Alabama Public Radio. She also talked about the creation of a limited school voucher program and announced support for a vote on gambling legislation.

Few Republicans have high confidence that votes will be tallied accurately in next year's presidential contest, suggesting years of sustained attacks against elections by former President Donald Trump and his allies have taken a toll, according to a new poll. All states except Alabama and Wisconsin reported using a method referred to as logic and accuracy testing to confirm that voting machines were tabulating votes correctly before the 2022 midterm elections, according to a report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Alabama lawmakers could pass a bill that changes the rules of absentee voting in the last day of the legislative session. The state legislature is poised to meet on Tuesday, June 6th for the 30th and last day of the 2023 session.

Republicans in the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would make it a felony to help a voter fill out an absentee ballot.

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