Know Alabama Guidelines for Voter Registration Drives
Voter Registration Deadline: Voter registration applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by the 15th day prior to Election Day.
- Incomplete Applications: If you assist an applicant in completing the registration form, you must provide your name and address in the appropriate box on the voter registration form.
- Photocopying Completed Applications: Photocopying forms and recording information from forms is prohibited.
- Photocopying Blank Forms: Blank forms may be photocopied for registration drives.
- Organizations hosting voter registration drives are encouraged to submit completed applications within a week of receiving them.
- Students attending AAMU may register at their campus address or, if residing in Alabama, register using their permanent or home address. However, you may only be registered and vote in one location.
- You must give a voter registration form to anyone who asks, regardless of party affiliation, race, age, etc. Forms must be equally available to everyone.
- You may hand out small tokens while you are registering voters. However, you CANNOT pay or bribe people to vote. Therefore, you must give any "freebies" to anyone who asks, regardless of their voter registration status or intention to vote. This ban on bribery includes waiving admission to events.
- NO partisan materials may be handed out as part of a university voter registration drive. Party representatives (student clubs, candidates, elected officials) may be part of the drive, as long as equal opportunity is given to all partisan groups to participate.
- You cannot refuse someone a registration form. However, be sure that students registering to
vote know the rules of eligibility.
- Accidentally violating voter registration laws could lead to trouble for some students.
- For example, a Running Start student who is not yet 18, or a foreign exchange student who is not a U.S. citizen are not eligible to vote.
- As students submit their voter registration forms, check to make sure they have filled
in all the boxes and signed at the bottom.
- Incomplete forms could lead to students not receiving their ballots.
- Avoid this potential problem by checking forms as they are submitted.