MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State Senate did not vote on a bill to require party registration to vote in Alabama’s primary elections before adjourning for the year on Thursday night.
House Bill 541, by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, would have limited participation in primary elections to only those registered with a political party.
Under the bill, Alabamians would choose their political party affiliation when they register to vote. If they don’t want to register with a political party, voters can remain “unaffiliated” but couldn’t vote in primaries.
Voters could change their chosen political party as many times as they would like between elections, up until 60 days before a contest. This “blackout window” exists so the secretary of state can provide the list of registered voters to county probate judges – the chief election officers in Alabama’s 67 counties – within the legally mandated period before an election, Yarbrough said.
The bill was on the Senate’s agenda for Thursday, but it included an amendment that would have required the measure, if passed, to go back to the House of Representatives for concurrence. Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger said that when senators learned the House had adjourned, the bill essentially died.
“Our decision was easy,” Gudger told reporters after the Senate adjourned. “The House adjourned and we found out about it. I was on the phone in the back and somebody ran in there and said, ‘hey, the House is adjourning.’ So, once that happens, we’re finished, too.”
The House passed the bill by a vote of 63-35 on March 19. A Senate committee approved the bill with only a minor change on Tuesday morning.