MONTGOMERY, Ala. – No matter which primary they voted in for the May 19 primary, registered Alabamians can cast their ballot in either party’s special primary later this summer, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall confirmed in an opinion on Friday.
Marshall’s opinion answered a question filed by Secretary of State Wes Allen about the upcoming special primary for Alabama’s 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts.
The special primary came to be after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais paved the way for Alabama to revert to its GOP-friendly congressional map from 2023. The Callais decision gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and limits the consideration of race when drawing districts.
The 2023 map, which a federal court previously ruled illegally diluted the influence of Black votes, eliminates a majority-minority district and will likely lead to Alabama sending six Republicans and one Democrat to the U.S. House. The split is currently 5-2.
Gov. Kay Ivey rescheduled the primary election for the four changed districts to Aug. 11 after the Supreme Court, in light of the Callais decision, allowed Alabama to change its congressional map.
The legislation passed during the special session to empower Ivey to do this clarified that the Aug. 11 special primary is a standalone election and not a runoff, Marshall said in his opinion.
“Nothing in the plain language of section 17-13-3.1 of the Code indicates that the August 11, 2026 Special Primary Election is a ‘subsequent Primary runoff election’ to the May 19, 2026 primary elections such that section 17-13-7.1 of the Code would apply,” Marshall wrote.
This means that switching parties between May 19 and Aug. 11 wouldn’t constitute crossover voting, which state law prohibits in most cases. For example, a voter can’t cast their ballot in a Democratic primary and then vote in the Republican primary runoff.
“…any qualified voter may choose either party’s ballot in the August election,” Marshall wrote.
There will be no runoffs for the special election, so the primary winners will be decided based on plurality.