Rules from the Alabama Secretary of State for the Nov. 3 election.
Vote on Election Day
Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you’re in line by 7 p.m., you can vote.
- Alabama has no early voting. Voting before Election Day means voting absentee, which requires a qualifying reason.
- On the ballot you can either vote a straight-party ticket or mark candidates one by one.
- Some polling places near the Georgia line may run on Eastern Time (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern). Check with your county if unsure.
- Moved within your county since you registered? Go to the polling place for your new address, update your registration there, and vote a provisional ballot.
- Moved to a different county? Your registration doesn’t move with you, and you can’t vote at your old polling place. Call the Board of Registrars in the county where you live now, before Election Day.
- Not on the poll list, or poll workers can’t confirm your registration? Ask for a provisional ballot. It counts once officials confirm you’re eligible.
- Asked for an absentee ballot but it never came, or you didn’t send it back? You can vote a provisional ballot at your polling place.
Alabama Votes ↗ (opens in new tab)2026 Voter Guide (Secretary of State, PDF) ↗ (opens in new tab)
Bring a photo ID
- Alabama driver’s license or nondriver ID
- Free Alabama Photo Voter ID card, available from your county Board of Registrars, even on Election Day
- U.S. passport, military ID, or tribal ID
- Other photo ID issued by Alabama, another state or the federal government, such as a pistol permit or a Department of Corrections release ID
- Employee photo ID from the federal government or from an Alabama state, county or city government
- Student or employee ID from an Alabama college, or from a public college in another state
Bring the physical card. Under a 2026 state law (HB110, in effect since Oct. 1), digital IDs, including Alabama’s digital driver’s license, aren’t accepted for voting, even though some older Secretary of State guides, including the 2026 Voter Guide PDF, still list it. A driver’s license or nondriver ID expired less than 60 days still counts. Licenses or IDs issued to foreign nationals can’t be used for voting.
Full list of valid IDs ↗ (opens in new tab)No digital IDs (Secretary of State) ↗ (opens in new tab)2026 digital ID law (HB110) ↗ (opens in new tab)
Voting absentee
You need a qualifying reason. The most common:
- You’ll be out of your county on Election Day, including at college or in the military
- You have a required work shift of 10 hours or more that overlaps polling hours
- You’re ill or have a disability that keeps you from the polls
- You’re caring for a family member who is confined at home
- You’re a poll worker at a polling place other than your own
Absentee deadlines for Nov. 3 | Application (asking for a ballot) | Ballot (sending it back filled in) |
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| By mail (it must arrive by) | Tue, Oct 27 | Noon Tue, Nov 3 |
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| By hand (at your county’s absentee office) | Thu, Oct 29 | Mon, Nov 2, before the office closes (5 p.m. at the latest) |
|---|
By mail, the application is due first but the ballot is due last: a mailed application must arrive by Tue, Oct 27, while a mailed ballot can arrive as late as noon Tue, Nov 3.
Steps
- Get the application for the county where you’re registered: download it, ask your county’s absentee election manager (usually the circuit clerk), or call 334‑242‑7210.
- Return it yourself with a copy of your photo ID (if you’re 65 or older or have a disability and check the box on the application saying you can’t vote in person, you don’t need to include ID): by mail so it arrives by Tue, Oct 27, or in person by Thu, Oct 29. Some county offices let you apply and vote in one visit; call ahead.
- Mark your ballot and sign the affidavit in front of a notary or two witnesses age 18 or older. Without this, your ballot can’t be counted. Online or remote notarization isn’t allowed.
- Return the ballot yourself: by hand before your county’s absentee office closes on Mon, Nov 2 (5 p.m. at the latest), or by mail or a carrier such as FedEx or UPS so it arrives by noon Tue, Nov 3. Except in a medical emergency, no one else may return it for you.
Time is short: the Secretary of State advises mailing at least two weeks before each deadline, so applying in person by Thu, Oct 29 is the safer route. College students: apply to the county where you’re registered, and use the form’s mailing-address line to have the ballot sent where you get mail. An emergency after the deadline, or voting from the military or overseas? See the next two sections.
Application forms by county ↗ (opens in new tab)Absentee voting rules ↗ (opens in new tab)2026 deadlines ↗ (opens in new tab)
Emergency after the deadline?
You may still get an emergency absentee ballot if one of these happens within five days of the election and you didn’t know about it before the regular deadline:
- Your employer unexpectedly requires you to be away from your polling place while the polls are open
- You need emergency treatment from a doctor
- You’re caring for someone who needs emergency treatment from a doctor
- A close relative dies, such as a parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild (including in-laws)
Contact your county’s absentee election manager right away. Apply by 5 p.m. Mon, Nov 2, and return the ballot by noon Tue, Nov 3. For your own medical emergency, your doctor certifies it, you can apply as late as noon Tue, Nov 3, and someone you choose can turn in your application, pick up your ballot and return it.
Emergency absentee law (Ala. Code § 17-11-3) ↗ (opens in new tab)Emergency absentee application (Secretary of State, PDF) ↗ (opens in new tab)Absentee election manager guide (Secretary of State, PDF) ↗ (opens in new tab)
Military and overseas voters
Service members, their spouses and dependents, and U.S. citizens living overseas vote absentee under a federal law (UOCAVA), with a few differences:
- Apply by the same dates as other absentee voters. You can ask to get your ballot by email.
- Your ballot counts if it’s postmarked by Tue, Nov 3, and arrives by noon Tue, Nov 10.
- Outside the U.S. and got your ballot by email? You can return it electronically by Election Day, Tue, Nov 3; instructions come with the ballot.
- You don’t need to include a copy of a photo ID.
- Ballot hasn’t arrived? Use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) as a backup. The same postmark and arrival deadlines apply.
Alabama guide for military and overseas voters (FVAP, PDF) ↗ (opens in new tab)Military and overseas voting (Secretary of State) ↗ (opens in new tab)Federal Voting Assistance Program: Alabama ↗ (opens in new tab)2026 Voter Guide (Secretary of State, PDF) ↗ (opens in new tab)
If you forget your ID
If two election officials at your polling place positively identify you as a voter on the poll list and sign a sworn statement, you can vote a regular ballot. Otherwise, you can vote a provisional ballot, which counts once officials confirm you’re eligible; to have it counted, bring a valid photo ID to your county Board of Registrars by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6.
Photo ID law ↗ (opens in new tab)
Questions
Call the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at 334‑242‑7210 (toll-free 1‑800‑274‑8683), or your county Board of Registrars.