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HB628 INTRODUCED
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HB628
ARB3VQQ-1
By Representatives Moore (M), Datcher, Morris, Sellers, Jones,
Bracy, Hassell, Tillman, Gray, Travis, Chestnut, Drummond,
Warren, Daniels, England, McCampbell
RFD: Constitution, Campaigns and Elections
First Read: 17-Mar-26
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ARB3VQQ-1 03/11/2026 JWB (L)JWB 2026-1228
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First Read: 17-Mar-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, a county board of registrars
is required to purge an elector when the elector has
become disqualified to vote.
Under existing law, a county board of registrars
is required to change an elector's status to inactive
if the elector has not voted in four years.
Under existing law, if a county board of
registrars determines that an elector has moved to a
different address, sends a notice to the elector, and
the elector fails to respond to the notice, the board
is required to change the elector's status to inactive.
This bill would prohibit a county board of
registrars from purging, making inactive, or otherwise
removing an elector from the statewide voter
registration list within the 90-day period before any
regular election.
This bill would also make nonsubstantive,
technical revisions to update the existing code
language to current style.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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HB628 INTRODUCED
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AN ACT
Relating to elections; to amend Sections 17-4-3 and
17-4-9, Code of Alabama 1975, and Sections 17-4-30 and
17-4-39, Code of Alabama 1975, as amended by Act 2025-424 of
the 2025 Regular Session; to establish a 90-day period before
any regular election held in the state where no board of
registrars may purge, make inactive, or otherwise remove an
elector from the statewide voter registration list; and to
make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the
existing code language to current style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 17-4-3 and 17-4-9, Code of Alabama
1975, and Sections 17-4-30 and 17-4-39, Code of Alabama 1975
as amended by Act 2025-424 of the 2025 Regular Session, are
amended to read as follows:
"§17-4-3
(a)(1) Each county board of registrars shall purge the
computerized statewide voter registration list on a continuous
basis, whenever ita board receives and confirms information
that a person an individual registered to vote in that county
has died, become a nonresident of the state or county, been
declared mentally incompetent, been convicted of any offense
designated pursuant to Section 17-3-30.1 as a felony involving
moral turpitude for the purposes of Article VIII Section 177 of
the Constitution of Alabama of 19012022 since being
registered, or otherwise become disqualified as an elector.
Except as provided below, a person in subdivisions (2) and
(3), an individual convicted of a disqualifying criminal
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HB628 INTRODUCED
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(3), an individual convicted of a disqualifying criminal
offense shall be notified by certified mail sent to the
voter's last known address of the board's intention to strike
his or her name from the list.
(2) No person individual convicted of a disqualifying
crime may be stricken struck from the poll list while an appeal
from the conviction is pending.
(3) The county board of registrars may not purge any
individual from the computerized statewide voter registration
list within 90 days of any election held in the state,
pursuant to Section 2 of this act.
(b) On the date set in the notice, or at a later date
to which the case may have been continued by the board, the
board shall proceed to consider the case of the elector whose
name itthe board proposes to strike from the registration list
and make its determination. Any person individual whose name is
stricken struck from the list may appeal from the decision of
the board without giving security for costs, and the board
shall forthwith certify the proceedings to the judge of
probate who shall docket the case in the probate court.
(c) An appeal from the judge of probate shall be as
appeals set forth in the same manner as provided in Section
17-3-55.
(d) In the event the Board of Pardons and Paroles is
supervising a person an individual convicted of a disqualifying
criminal offense on probation or parole, and the
person individual has received face-to-face counseling from the
supervising officer regarding voter disqualification and
executed documentation explaining the loss and restoration of
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executed documentation explaining the loss and restoration of
civil and political rights, upon receipt of the documentation,
signed by the disqualified elector, the county board of
registrars shall be exempt from providing notice as otherwise
required by this section. The document administered by the
Board of Pardons and Paroles and to be signed by the
disqualified elector shall contain the following statement:
"Any person convicted of a disqualifying felony loses his or
her civil and political rights, which includes the right to
vote. Restoration of these rights may be applied for through
the Central Montgomery Office of the Board of Pardons and
Paroles, but only upon completion of the requirements of
Section 15-22-36.1."
(e) The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall provide
signed documentation to county boards of registrars to
indicate those persons individuals under probation or parole
supervision with the board who have been convicted of a
disqualifying criminal offense and been counseled regarding
voter disqualification and the restoration of civil and
political rights, and may otherwise share privileged records
and files with county boards of registrars for the limited
purpose of implementing the requirements of this section.
(f) When the board has sufficient evidence furnished it
that any elector has permanently moved from one precinct to
another within the county, itthe board shall change the
elector's precinct designation in the voter registration list ,
and shall give notice by mail to the elector of the precinct
in which the elector is registered to vote.
(g) The Secretary of State and the Board of Pardons and
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(g) The Secretary of State and the Board of Pardons and
Paroles may promulgate adopt rules in accordance with the
Alabama Administrative Procedure Act as necessary to implement
this section."
"§17-4-9
(a) Any voter who fails to vote for four years in his
or her county shall have his or her name placed on an inactive
voter list by the localcounty board of registrars. Once on the
inactive list, the voter shall reidentify with the localcounty
board of registrars in order to again have his or her name
placed on the active voter registration list. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if a voter on the inactive list goes to his or
her polling place to vote on an election day and identifies
himself or herself to the election official responsible for
the voter registration list update, suchthe voter shall be
permitted to vote provided the voter completes a voter
reidentification form.
(b) The county board of registrars may not place any
voter on the inactive voter list, or otherwise remove a voter
from the active voter registration list, within 90 days of any
election held in the state, pursuant to Section 2 of this
act."
"§17-4-30
(a) Beginning in February 2025, and in February of
every fourth year thereafter, the board of registrars, or the
Secretary of State if acting as the board's agent pursuant to
subsection (h), shall use change-of-address information
supplied by the United States Postal Service through the
National Change of Address database and by at least one other
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National Change of Address database and by at least one other
National Voter Registration Act designated agency database, to
identify registered voters whose addresses may have changed.
(b)(1) If the board of registrars or Secretary of State
determines from the change-of-address information that a
registered voter has moved to a different residence address
that is under the jurisdiction of the same board of
registrars, the board of registrars shall change the
registration records of that voter to show the new address,
and the board of registrars or Secretary of State, within 90
days after identifying the potential change, shall send the
voter a notice of the change by forwardable mail along with a
postage prepaid, pre-addressed return card on which the
registered voter may correct his or her current address
information. The notice shall inform the voter that if the
voter did not change his or her residence, he or she is
required to return the pre-addressed card no later than the
last day to register to vote before an election.
(2) If the board of registrars or Secretary of State
determines from the change-of-address information that a
registered voter has moved to a different residence address
that is under the jurisdiction of a different board of
registrars or to a residence address outside of the state, the
board of registrars or Secretary of State, within 90 days
after identifying the potential change, shall send the voter a
notice of the change by forwardable mail along with a postage
prepaid, pre-addressed return card on which the registered
voter may verify or correct his or her current address
information. The notice shall include both of the following:
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information. The notice shall include both of the following:
a. A statement informing the voter that if the
pre-addressed card is not returned within the time specified
in the notice, the voter will be permitted to vote in that
same jurisdiction during the period from the date the notice
was mailed and ending on the day after the date of the second
general election for federal office, provided the voter
completes a voter registration update form. If the voter does
not update his or her voter registration record or vote during
the period ending on the day after the date of the second
general election for federal office, the voter's name shall be
removed from the list of eligible voters.
b. Information concerning how the voter may continue
his or her eligibility to vote in another jurisdiction if the
voter has changed his or her residence to an address outside
of the jurisdiction of the board of registrars under which he
or she is then registered.
(c) The board of registrars or Secretary of State shall
record and maintain in the statewide voter registration
database the dates on which the notice is mailed to a
registered voter and the card is subsequently returned to the
board by the registered voter.
(d) The board of registrars shall update the statewide
voter registration database using the information reported to
the board by the registered voters on the prepaid,
pre-addressed return cards provided for in this section.
(e) If the registered voter does not respond to the
notice provided in this section within 90 days of the date on
which the notice was mailed or if the notice is returned to
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HB628 INTRODUCED
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which the notice was mailed or if the notice is returned to
the board of registrars as undeliverable, the board of
registrars or its agent shall change the status of the voter
to inactive and indicate in the statewide voter registration
database the date the change is recorded and that the voter
did not respond to the mailing or that the mailing was
returned as undeliverable, in a manner provided by rule by the
Secretary of State.
(f) The names of persons to be removed from the list of
registered voters pursuant to this section shall be published
in accordance with Section 17-4-10.
(g) The Secretary of State may adopt rules as necessary
to implement this section.
(h) The Secretary of State may act as an agent for a
board of registrars, only upon receiving the written consent
of the county commission, in implementing this section.
(i) The board of registrars, or its agent, shall
complete the process of changing any voter's status to
inactive at least 90 days before any regular election held in
the state. The board, or its agent, may not change the status
of any voter within the 90-day period before any regular
election, pursuant to Section 2 of this act. "
"§17-4-39
(a)(1) The board of registrars shall be responsible for
entering and updating in a timely manner the names and
information of the electors who register to vote and vote in
each election into the state voter registration list and for
conducting regular voter list maintenance activities as
directed by the Secretary of State and otherwise provided by
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directed by the Secretary of State and otherwise provided by
law, including processing registered individuals identified by
programs conducted pursuant to subsection (b). Removal of any
registered individual determined to be improperly registered
may be accomplished at any time by a majority vote of the
board.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1), a board of
registrars may not remove an individual from the state voter
registration list in the 90-day period before any regular
election is held in the state, pursuant to Section 2 of this
act.
(b)(1) The Secretary of State shall be responsible for
directly conducting regular state voter registration list
maintenance programs to ensure database integrity. These
programs shall be known as the Alabama Voter Integrity
Database (AVID). The Alabama Voter Integrity Database shall
compare the state voter registration list to:
a. Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency driver license
and nondriver identification card data to identify registered
voters in Alabama who have moved and obtained a driver license
or nondriver identification card in another state or who have
registered to vote in Alabama and then applied for a foreign
national driver license or nondriver identification card;
b. State-to-state voter list data to identify
individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama but who are
also registered to vote in another state, including
individuals who may have voted in the same or a similar
election in both states, with priority given to data from
states in close geographical proximity to Alabama;
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states in close geographical proximity to Alabama;
c. The National Change of Address database to identify
individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama but have
notified the United States Postal Service that they have
relocated to a new county within the state or an address
outside of Alabama;
d. Social Security Death Index data to identify
deceased individuals who are registered to vote and may have
died out of state; and
e. United States Department of Homeland Security
Citizenship and Immigration Services data to identify
individuals who are registered to vote in Alabama but are
ineligible to vote because they are noncitizens.
(2) Individuals identified shall be timely communicated
by the Secretary of State to the appropriate board or boards
of registrars to process.
(c) Not later than February 1, annually, the Secretary
of State shall collect and publish data from each county
specifying the number of voters who were removed from the
voter registration list during the previous calendar year."
Section 2. (a) The board of registrars for each county,
or the Secretary of State if acting as the board's agent, may
not purge, make inactive, or otherwise remove any elector from
the computerized statewide voter registration list within the
90-day period before any regular election that occurs in the
state.
(b) For purposes of this section, "regular election"
means any regularly scheduled and held municipal, county, or
statewide election. Regarding statewide elections, the term
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statewide election. Regarding statewide elections, the term
includes primary, primary runoff, and general elections.
Section 3. This act shall become effective on July 1,
2026.
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