The Independent View: AL Legislature Pitches Election Reform Measures

Alabama Lawmakers are pitching nearly Two Dozen pieces of Legislation to Retool the State's Elections Process.

The effort arrives ahead of a 2018 Election that will see all of the State's Constitutional Offices and Legislative Seats on the Ballot. It also follows one of the Major Political upsets of Modern Era when Democrat Doug Jones Defeated Republican Roy Moore in December's Special U.S. Senate Contest.

The most notable of the Changes would Eliminate Future Special U.S. Senate Elections like the one that Jones won. Proponents say that this will Save the State Millions of Dollars; Opponents say it will Subvert the Democratic Process. A Floor fight could occur in the Alabama Senate next week.

Other pieces of Election-related Legislation involve:

- Revisions to Absentee Balloting
- Clarifications on Recounts
- Specifications on when Write-Ins can be Tabulated
- Updates to Inactive-Voter Lists
- Provisions for Requesting Open Primaries

Also, one Bill would Impose Term Limits in the Legislature, in another would Raise the Eligible Age of Judicial Candidates to 75. "You only tend to get interest with reforming the election code and the process of elections if you have a scandal or some development that adversely affects the majority party," said Jess Brown, a retired Political Science Professor at Athens State University. "We've now had both: scandals related to campaign finance and a surprise election."

But State Rep. Randy Davis (R-96th District) and Chairman of the House Constitution Campaign and Elections Committee, suggested that Voters themselves might be the driving force: "Maybe people are hearing things back home, 'You didn't do what you were supposed to do.'"

Generating the most attention is HB17, Sponsored by Rep. Steve Clouse (R-93rd District), who Heads the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee. The Bill would Empower the Governor to Appoint a Placeholder to a Vacant U.S. Senate Seat, to serve through the Next General Election Cycle. The Appointee could not Run for the Seat. Under this Scenario, Alabama's Junior Senator would still be Luther Strange. A year ago, Gov. Robert Bentley chose Strange to Replace Jeff Sessions, who had Departed the Senate to become U.S. Attorney General. The Bill seems on the way to Passage: The House of Representatives green-lighted it along partisan lines, 67-31. Said Clouse, "People can say what they want, but the facts are that the bill was pre-filed in August and it had nothing to do with the personalities in that race. But it had everything to do with the money part."

Republican Supporters say that Clouse's Bill will be a big Cost-Saver, should another Mid-Term Senate Vacancy occur. They estimate that Last Year's Special Senate Election cost anywhere from $12 Million to more than $15 Million.

On the other hand, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-53rd District), maintains that the Special Senate Battle, Months of Campaigning, Advertising, Media Coverage, and the like, delivered an Economic Impact that far outweighed the Cost of Holding Primaries, a Runoff, and a General Election. By his estimation, the positive impact was $80 Million. "How can we put a price on democracy?" Daniels said. "This just goes to show you that the Alabama Legislature is being too reactive."

HB17 is expected to go before the Senate's Constitution Ethics and Elections Committee for a Hearing in the coming week. The Senate Sponsor is Gerald Dial (R-13th District), who believes that the Bill has "good momentum" in a Chamber that is Ruled by a Republican Supermajority. Dial and Clouse say the Bill was strengthened with an Amendment that Prohibits the Governor's Appointee from Running for the Seat in the Next Election.

Alabama is one of 14 States that allows Senate Vacancies to be Addressed with a Special Election. In 36 States, Vacancies are filled by Gubernatorial Appointment until the next Regularly Scheduled Election. Prior to last year, the last time a Vacancy occurred among Alabama's U.S. Senate Contingent was in 1978. That year, Gov. George Wallace appointed Maryon Allen to the Senate after her husband, Jim, died suddenly in Office. Maryon Allen would go on to lose the Democratic Party's 1978 Special Election Runoff to Donald Stewart.

Alabama will Tie Idaho for Hosting the State's Sixth Stand-Alone Special Election for a U.S. Senate Seat. The Last Special election was in 1978. "It could be another 39 years, who knows?" Clouse said. "It could be next year. We know the budgets are in fairly good shape this year, but I can assure you, they won't be next year. If we have to do this again next year, people would be raising cain that we'd have another special election and would have to spend another $11 million to $12 million."

But it's not only Democratic Lawmakers who are wary of HB17 Bill. Various Political Science Professors and even some Conservative Commentators in Alabama have questioned the Bill's Motivations. In an Online Commentary, one Conservative Radio Personality described the Bill's Rationale this way: a "red state electing a Democrat to represent it after Republicans nominated a beatable candidate."

"The proposal to get rid of the special election seems like an obvious and very transparent attempt to prevent Democrats from winning again," said Richard Fording, a Political Science Professor at the University of Alabama. "With Republicans in power and with a Republican governor, that seat would be in Republican hands if there were no special elections. That seems awfully coincidental."

Derryn Moten, Chairman of the Department of History and Political Science at Alabama State University, said he thinks that Voters should be "alarmed and concerned" by the Bill. "I don't think for a minute that this has anything to do with the costs of the election," Moten said. To such jabs, Clouse emphasizes that Bill was originally Drafted last in May. "It's pretty obvious there has been some grandstanding going on," he said.

Alabama Lawmakers are pitching Legislation that would Remove the Special Election Option whenever a Vacancy occurs in the U.S. Senate. Supporters say it's to Save Costs, which could be a high as $15.5 Million. There could be some Opponents who believe the Legislation would Remove Voters from the Process after a Governor Appoints an Interim Senator.

Some of the Election Law Changes enjoy the Open Backing of Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill. They include:

- HB247, Sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker (R-66th District). It would provide Recount Provisions for All Elected Offices and Ballot Measures.
- HB239, Sponsored by Rep. Paul Beckman (R-88th District). This Bill would Modernize how Boards of Registrars Update the Statewide Voter Registration Database. In last year's Party Primaries, more than 340,000 people were Placed on the State's List of "inactive" Voters, prompting outrage among Civil Rights Groups.
- HB241, Sponsored by Rep. Ron Johnson (R-33rd District). It would require Write-In Votes be Tallied only when they are Numerous enough to potentially Alter an Election outcome.
- SB228/HB318, sponsored by Davis and Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-18th District). This Bill would require Voters to provide a Copy of their Photo ID with their Absentee Application, and would allow a Voter to Cast an Absentee Ballot if he or she is a Caregiver to a Family Member.

Merrill said the Proposals that his Office is Backing are "directly related to the administration of the election process." He added, "Some of the political ramifications of those items are not things we've been concerned about." Merrill's Office, for instance, has No Position on Clouse's Bill to Alter the U.S. Senate Special Election procedure. Nor has his Office taken a Position on Two Bills, backed by Democrats, which would create Open Winner-Take-all Primaries in Alabama, except for the Presidential Elections.

Davis, Head of the House Committee that considers the Election Proposals, said the Open-Primary Bills aren't likely to Advance to a Committee Hearing. "There is a ton of things that have been introduced and a lot of times people just introduce it to see where it's going to go and to get feedback," said Davis. "I don't know why they waste time sometimes with these things."

Term Limits also appear unlikely to Advance this Session. But a Sponsor of one of the Bills floating around the Statehouse said it's worth the effort. "I don't know that we'll get much traction this year," said Rep. Matt Fridy (R-73rd District ), who's pitching HB340, which would Establish a Four-Term Maximum for the Legislature's Members. "I filed the same bill last year, and we'll keep pushing for it." Fridy, though, is more hopeful for another Election-Related Change that he's Sponsoring. HB339 would up the Eligible Age for a Judicial Candidate to 75 from the present 70. Fridy said that Probate Judges Advocated for the Higher threshold. He said he decided that it ought to apply to All Judges in Alabama.

"I don't believe in age limits," he said. "And I don't think it's fair we age-limit judges, but we don't age limit legislators." Fridy continued, "It doesn't make sense for me we would chose to age-limit the people who interpret the laws, but we have no age limits at all for any of the other branches." Asked whether he had Roy Moore or any other Past or Present Judge in mind when he developed his Bill, Fridy said that he did not.