A new bill introduced in the Legislature to eliminate the option for straight-ticket voting on Alabama ballots has divided Alabama Democrats, with party leadership speaking out against the Democrat-sponsored bill.

HB575 — sponsored by Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, alongside several other Democratic lawmakers — would get rid of the option on Alabama ballots to vote for a single party’s entire slate of candidates with a single mark on the ballot. Six states allow straight-ticket voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Critics of straight-ticket voting say the practice encourages partisanship and makes it easier for voters to disengage from candidates’ individual platforms, leading to less informed voting decisions.

However, in the states that offer straight-ticket voting, it is a popular choice for many voters. In Alabama’s 2022 election, about 66.6% of the 1.4 million ballots cast were straight-ticket votes. In that election, the majority of straight-ticket votes were for the Republican Party — about 65.1% of straight-ticket ballots were for the Republican Party, while about 20.9% were for the Democratic Party.

Former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, the Democratic front-runner for governor, has also spoken against straight-ticket voting, calling it a “rigged system.”

However, despite the evidence that straight-ticket voting turns out fewer votes for Alabama Democrats, Joe Reed, the vice chair of minority affairs for the Alabama Democratic Party, issued a letter to party members rebuking the bill, warning that eliminating straight-ticket voting would be “the death nail of what is left of the Democratic Party.”

“This is an unpardonable sin for which there is no forgiveness,” Reed said about supporting the bill.

Jones released a statement in support of HB575 after Reed’s warning, saying, “Democracy is as much the competition of ideas during a campaign as it is the ultimate rule of the majority. Our state could greatly benefit from these discussions and debates during campaigns. On the other hand, having a single box at the top of the ballot greatly harms down-ballot competition and further deepens our partisan divide.”

HB575 is yet to be voted on by the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee.

Alabama top stories in brief

Ivey spares Sonny Burton from execution

• Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton last week, two days before he was set to be executed. Burton will instead serve life in prison.
• Burton was given the death sentence for his role in the 1991 shooting death of Doug Battle during a robbery at a Talladega AutoZone store. Burton was involved in the robbery, but was not inside the store when Battle was shot. The man who did shoot Battle, Derrick DeBruce, also received the death penalty, but had his sentence commuted in 2014.
• In a statement, Ivey said she “cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances.”
• This is the second time Ivey has commuted a death sentence since she took office in 2017. Ivey has presided over 25 executions.
• Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed disappointment over Ivey’s decision, saying, “While the media has done its best to paint Mr. Burton as a harmless, decrepit old man, he is a murderer.”

Stadhagen elected as new ALGOP chair

• Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, has been elected as the new chair of the Alabama Republican Party. 
• The party leadership role became vacant after the former chair, John Wahl, announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor. 
• Stadthagen was elected to the House in 2018. He became the House Majority Leader in 2022 — a role he stepped down from to run for the party chair role.
• “Your voice will always be my voice, 100%, all the time,” Stadthagen told party members after being elected.  

Bill to expand Public Service Commission passes Senate

• A new bill that would expand the Alabama Public Service Commission from a board of three appointed members, to a seven-member, elected board passed the Senate last week.
• If the bill is passed, the board would feature one representative for each of the state’s congressional districts. Elections of these members would be staggered over the next several election cycles, but Gov. Kay Ivey would get to appoint four new members until the election process can begin.
• The bill also would create a state secretary of energy role. The state secretary of energy would be appointed by the governor and administer the business of the PSC.
• Efforts to reform the PSC have had momentum during this year’s legislative session due to concerns over Alabama’s high electric rates.
• The bill now goes to the House.

 Conservative group sues Tuscaloosa library over meeting ban

• The Eagle Forum of Alabama, a conservative Christian group that has been involved in advocating for book bans in state libraries, is suing the Tuscaloosa Public Library over the library’s meeting room policy.
• The group filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama last week, claiming that the library barred the group from using one of its meeting rooms — violating their constitutional rights to assemble in a public space.
• The library cancelled two meeting room reservations the group had in August 2025, saying that the group’s meetings violated a library policy against “meetings of religious or sectarian groups for the purpose of preaching or otherwise demonstrating the beliefs of their members.”
• The library’s attorneys have said that the meeting rooms count as a limited public forum, and may legally have some speech restrictions.

Our articles you might have missed

• Check out our February Legislative update, where we cover some of the key bills that were passed in February, and three bills you should keep an eye on for March.

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