MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After more than three hours of debate, a controversial ballot harvesting bill was passed in the Alabama Senate Tuesday.
Sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, Senate Bill 1 would make it a Class B felony for an Alabamian to pay another person for assistance with an absentee ballot application, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The bill would make it a Class C felony for someone to receive payment for assisting another person with an absentee ballot application, and a Class A misdemeanor for assisting someone with an absentee ballot application without payment. Exceptions to the latter are included for family members, roommates and those with disabilities.
Championed as a measure to prevent voter fraud and strengthen election integrity, a similar bill was introduced in 2023 but ultimately failed to become law, and was fiercely contested by Democratic lawmakers as being a form of voter suppression.
In an effort to quell Democrats’ concerns with the proposal, Gudger made the case on the Senate floor that the bill would not affect any one particular group of people, and would be applied equally.
“I’ve heard that there are issues with this bill, that it limits people from being able to vote,” Gudger said.
“This is about getting people to vote and making sure that it’s a free, open and secure process to make sure their ballot counts. It’s not always secure, and this bill addresses illegal actions that are happening. We have evidence showing that in different counties, we’ve got a list page after page of people doing (ballot harvesting).”

Gudger then raised a handful of papers he said detailed instances of voter fraud in the state, a claim that saw pushback from Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.
“I disagree with the fact that you say it is happening, and I would love to see that data,” Singleton said. “If it has been happening in terms of harvesting ballots, and people are paying people to do that, why haven’t there been more convictions? I just don’t see it.”
According to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, there have been 20 cases of voter fraud in Alabama since the year 2000 that saw either criminal convictions or judicial findings.
While the relatively low number, Democrats argued, hardly painted a picture of widespread voter fraud in the state, Gudger later told reporters that some Alabama counties saw abnormally high rates of absentee ballot use during recent elections, something he surmised as an “indicator that there is fraud probably there,” suggesting the true number to be much higher.
Upon its passage, Sen. Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said the bill was an extension of the priorities of Alabamians.
“Election security is of primary importance to the people of Alabama, and therefore to the Senate on both sides of the aisle,” Reed said. “We worked through this legislation today in order to get it right.”
News of the bill’s passage spread quickly, with Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl celebrating SB1 as a “commonsense bill.”
“This bill is about making sure every single person’s vote is secure and safeguarded,” Wahl said in a statement. “We believe that the election process should stand for honesty and integrity, and no one’s vote should ever be stolen or usurped by illegal ballot harvesting.”
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, spoke at length to his opposition to the bill, warning of what he argued would be the unintended consequences of criminalizing people from assisting others with absentee ballots. Smitherman also suggested, due to a lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud, that lawmakers’ time would be better spent addressing other issues.
“We can’t get caught up because this is an election year; that’s got nothing to do with us, not in here it doesn’t,” Smitherman said.
“We have to have the ability not to drag that in here, not in our chambers, we need to give our attention to the issues before us (like) literacy (and) Medicaid expansion, or whatever you want to call it.”
Other Democratic lawmakers pointed to Alabama’s shrinking voter turnout rate, which during the 2022 midterm elections, was at its lowest level in at least 36 years, and how SB1 could further reduce voter turnout.
“We don’t have people that are participating in the electoral process right now, and now we are putting up barriers to voting… understand, you are doing this to your own constituents,” said Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham. “If you live in rural Alabama, understand, your voters are going to be impacted.”

Several amendments to the bill were approved by the Senate and Gudger later said they did not significantly change the bill, which passed along party lines, 27-8.
Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth also released a statement praising the bill’s passage, and echoed Gudger’s claim that voter fraud was rampant in the state.
“Alabama has a long history of voter fraud, and the vast majority of indictments and convictions have involved absentee balloting,” Ainsworth said Tuesday.
“Allowing partisan groups and individuals to collect, handle, and potentially tamper with countless numbers of absentee ballots breeds fraud and invites abuse. With passage of this bill, Alabamians can rest assured that an absentee ballot honestly cast will be an absentee ballot honestly counted.”