League of Women Voters of Alabama
*** CALL TO ACTION ***
Tell Your Legislators:
“Vote NO On SB1!”
On
January 8, 2024, the League of Women Voters of Alabama urged
League members and all other Alabama citizens to take
immediate action to defeat Senate Bill 1 (SB1). Call or
write your state senator and senate leadership and demand a NO
VOTE ON SB1. If passed into law, SB1 would suppress voters of
all parties and persuasions. It would CRIMINALIZE voters who
ask friends for help in getting an absentee ballot
application. Any friend who responds would also be guilty of a
crime. Read
the Call To Action to find out what you can do to stop
passage of this legislation. It's as simple as making a
few short phone calls or emails. Please take action now!
Additional
background information
In addition to
criminalizing voters who ask friends for help with the absentee
voting process. Any friend who responds would also be guilty of
a crime. Furthermore, if any money, like gas money, is offered
and/or accepted, both persons would be guilty of a FELONY.
This bill would make it impossible for a caregiver even to pick
up an absentee ballot application for a patient. College
students would not be able to ask a friend to print out an
absentee ballot application. You yourself would not be allowed
to explain to a friend even how to fill out the application.
Similar penalties apply to help with the absentee ballot itself.
The short list of people who are authorized to help with either
is limited to close family members, room mates of 6 months or
longer, and certain election officials.
The League of Women Voters is dedicated to voter education, and
we support voters in having their Voting Plan for each
election. If SB1 becomes law, LWV voter services
volunteers across Alabama will be unable to have an open, free,
or complete conversation with voters about in person versus
absentee voting during a presidential election year.
This bill nearly became law during last year’s legislative
session. This year legislators are determined to expedite
passage. We must fight to prevent SB1 from passing by
advocating forcefully now.
Please read SB1 and understand the severity of the
proposed felonies that good Samaritans could be charged with.
Here are the legal definitions of Class B and C felonies
in Alabama:
Class B Felonies: Sentences and Examples
Alabama's standard sentence range for a Class B felony is two to
20 years imprisonment. Some examples of Class B felonies:
first-degree manslaughter
first-degree assault
auto theft, and
second-degree rape (often called statutory
rape), which Alabama defines as sex with a minor aged 12 to
15 by a defendant who is at least 16 and two years older
than the victim.
