TUSCUMBIA — Colbert County Probate Judge Daniel Rosser is emphasizing the importance of voter turnout in Alabama for the upcoming November 2024 general election.
“We need a massive turnout in Alabama,” Rosser said at a recent Colbert County Republican Club meeting. “We have a hot race in the second congressional district, that ... was redistricted, I'm sure everybody knows, in order to favor the Democrat Party. But the Republicans still have a legitimate chance of winning that race.”
Rosser referred to the competitive race between Democrat Shomari Figures and Republican Caroleene Dobson. Polling shows Figures has a slight lead over Dobson, but with 29% of District 2 voters still undecided on who they would choose as their congressman, it could be anyone’s race to lose.
Rosser also gave insight into the local drama surrounding the Colbert County superintendent race. Republican Nathan Fuller is on the November ballot. Democrat candidate Lymos McDonald was deemed ineligible for the ballot due to paperwork and filing errors and will now run as a write-in candidate.
Julie Dean, Democrat chair of the Colbert County Executive Committee, said, “An injustice to democracy has occurred in the Shoals. Colbert County citizens have been denied the right to have Mr. Lymos McDonald – a qualified, certified candidate – on the ballot. Lymos McDonald’s mission is to provide Colbert County students and their families the option of having him represent them. He will therefore continue his campaign as a write-in candidate for Superintendent of the Colbert County Board of Education."
Rosser said he studied case law and communicated with the local and national Democrat committees, as well as Secretary of State Wes Allen and Attorney General Steve Marshall, to find a workable solution before coming to the decision.
“The best place to fight these out is on the ballot. But I also think the law should be followed,” Rosser intoned.
Rosser affirmed he was “proud" of how he handled it.
"I had the Secretary of State and the Attorney General standing shoulder to shoulder with me," he added.
Rosser said the 2020 general election had a never-before-seen turnout, and Colbert County was overwhelmed. He expects the 2024 general will be no less unprecedented. He asked for volunteers to work the polls.
“I'm asking for more election workers," he stated. "I think it would be great if they were good, Republican election workers so that you guys can help me keep an eye on things.”
Thanks to House Bill 435, which Governor Kay Ivey signed into law in 2023, poll workers and poll inspectors will see a pay increase from previous years. Before this change in the law, both inspectors and other workers received $50 flat rate for each election with a state supplement which brought the compensation to $100 for inspectors and $75 for other workers. For 2024, the base pay has been increased by $50; so, with the state supplement, inspectors will receive $150 and other workers $125.
According to the Secretary of State’s website, the requirements to work the polls are:
Must be registered to vote in the State of Alabama.
Must be registered to vote in the county in which they want to be a poll worker.
Must attend mandatory poll worker training. There are no exceptions to this requirement.
Cannot be a member of a candidate’s immediate family or the second degree of kinship. Applicants cannot be a member of a candidate’s political committee.
Find out more about becoming a poll worker here.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
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