A bill that would require Alabama voters to be a registered political party member in order to vote in that party’s primary election passed the House of Representatives last week, despite bipartisan opposition to the measure.

HB451, sponsored by several Republican lawmakers, would require voters to register with a political party in order to vote in a primary election starting in 2027. The bill stipulates that voters who wish to change their party affiliation would have to do so 60 days before a primary election.

Currently, Alabama is one of eight states that have open primary elections, where a voter does not have to be a registered party member in order to vote in that party’s primary election. However, there has been a recent push among Alabama Republicans to close primary elections to registered party members. The Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution earlier this month calling for closed primary elections in order to protect the “integrity, credibility, and legitimacy” of the party’s candidates. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, the Republican front-runner for governor, has also spoken against open primaries.

Despite the party’s push against open primaries, HB451 still earned bipartisan opposition on the House floor, with critics saying the bill alienates independent voters.

“In this piece of legislation, what we’re saying to the voter is we want to force you into identifying, and not just identifying, but being registered publicly for a party,” one Republican critic of HB451, Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, said of the bill during floor debate.

Other critics questioned the idea that partisan voters are using the open primary system to sabotage the campaigns of the opposing party.

“I have seen no sign, in recent years, of Democrats trying to flood the Republican party with cross-over voting. I’ve just never seen it,” said Rep. Bob Fincher, R-Woodland. 

Democratic critics of HB451 said the bill would reduce voter participation.

“Every new requirement becomes another barrier and at a time when we should be encouraging more people to engage in the democratic process, we should not be adding obstacles,” said Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa.

The bill’s supporters, meanwhile, emphasized the point of party cohesion and power.

“What (this bill) does seek to do is align the position of the party and the nominees of the party with the voters who expect when they cast a ballot for someone from that party that vote gives them what they think they’re getting,” one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Ernie Yarborough, R-Trinity, said after the bill passed the House.

HB451 ultimately passed the House 63-35. All Democratic members of the House voted against the bill. Six Republicans also voted against the bill, with four others abstaining. 

The bill now moves to the Senate on a short timetable, with only six days left in the legislative session. 

Alabama top stories in brief

Library board imposes rules over transgender children’s books; set to hire staffer assisting libraries with compliance

• The Alabama Public Library Service, during a meeting last week, said that state libraries must move all books featuring transgender characters in the children’s section to adult sections of the library.
• This new rule is one of a slate of administrative code changes the APLS has issued in recent years in an attempt to purge “inappropriate” books from children’s sections in state libraries. State funding for local libraries has become dependent on libraries’ compliance to these rules.
• At last week’s meeting, APLS board members said they are seeking to hire a new staffer that would specifically aid local libraries in navigating these administrative code changes and remain in compliance with the board. 
• A recent survey from the Alabama Library Association reported that 14 state libraries collectively spent $117,000 and more than 4,600 hours in efforts to comply with APLS administrative changes.

State Supreme Court rules police can demand to see ID:

• The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that police can demand to see identification during a stop so long as they are dissatisfied with a person’s verbal answers under the state’s “stop-and-identify” law. 
• The ruling comes in the case of a Black pastor who was arrested while watering his neighbor’s flowers. Michael Jennings was arrested in Childersburg in 2022 when he refused to show police who were questioning him any identification. Jennings refused because he said he told them who he was, what he was doing and that he hadn’t done anything wrong.
• Jennings was charged with obstructing a government operation, but the charge was later dismissed. He then sued the city for a false arrest.
• Supreme Court justices ruled 6-3 that state law “does not exclude from its purview a request for physical identification when a suspect provides an incomplete or unsatisfactory response to an officer’s demand to provide his or her name and address and an explanation of his or her action.”

State’s largest water utility removing fluoride from water supply

• Central Alabama Water, the state’s largest water utility — formerly operating as Birmingham Water Works — which serves 770,000 customers in the Birmingham area, announced last week that it will stop putting fluoride in its water. 
• This decision, which the utility said was for budgetary reasons, was not voted on by the utility’s board. Rather, the decision was made by CEO Jeffrey Thompson hours after a contentious board meeting where members approved a resolution greatly expanding the powers of its CEO to set policy.
• Fluoride is added to drinking water supplies around the country as a way to defend against dental decay. However, in recent years, debunked claims that fluoridated drinking water leads to negative health outcomes have gained traction. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has said that taking fluoride out of the drinking water is one of his top priorities. 
• Central Alabama Water has also recently been under fire after laying off 135 workers, or about 23% of its workforce, earlier this month. Protesters, some of whom were laid-off workers, rallied outside of the meeting.

Alabama airman killed in Iraq plane crash

• The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed one of the six Air Force members killed in a March 12 refueling plane crash in Iraq was Major John “Alex” Klinner from Auburn.
• The six members were killed in a crash while supporting Operation Epic Fury — the name the federal government has given to the U.S. and Israel’s airstrikes on Iran.
• Two of the other casualties, Captain Ariana Savino and Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, were members of the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, based out of Birmingham.
• Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement mourning the casualties, saying, “They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors—our fellow Alabamians. May their service and that of their families never be forgotten.”
• A GoFundMe to support Klinner’s wife and three children has raised more than $1.4 million as of Sunday. 

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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