Alabama's voter registration closed

As of Friday last week, voter registration is finally closed in Alabama.  State rolls have swelled to record breaking size, and 80% of the state's registered voters are expected to vote in this election.  Like everyone else, Alabama voters are concerned about the economy.  In other states, this concern has boosted Obama's campaign, but Alabama is still strongly conservative.  For one, it looks like it takes more than a bad economy to sway many Alabama voters Democratic.  Furthermore, the Obama campaign has not been present in Alabama as it has been in Michigan, for example.  Alabama just doesn't get the same kind of campaign attention as other states that have a better chance of turning blue for Obama.

However, several Alabama papers have now endorsed Senator Obama for President, including the Montgomery Advertiser and the Birmingham News.

Alabama will vote McCain in 10 days

Alabama, a conservative Southern state, is expected to send it's nine electoral votes to John McCain.

Recent polls show John McCain at 55 to 62% support.  The most recent listed at Real Clear Politics, an AEA/Capital Survey poll from early October, has McCain leading with 57% support to Obama's 33%.

Alabama is a strongly conservative state with a history of electing Republicans to national office.  Many Democrats who are elected in Alabama are "conservative Democrats."  The Birmingham Times reports today that based on a recent state poll most voters will vote for McCain, but they also expect Obama to win the election.  51% of voters polled cited the economy as the number one issue in the election.

In Alabama, millions of voters and registration is still open

It seems that all states are preparing for or already dealing with huge crowds of voters for this election. In Alabama, it is no different. Registration levels have hit a record of nearly 3 million people, and people can continue to register until this Friday. Registration data shows a surge is registration by young (18-24 yrs old), Hispanic, and black people. Since December 2007, the registration of black voters jumped 12 percent and Hispanic voters 45 percent. Could this narrow the race for McCain? It might narrow the race, but McCain still holds a solid lead in conservative Alabama.

George Wallace enters the political discussion

Alabama came up briefly in last night's final presidential debate through former governor and segregationist extraordinaire George Wallace and Lilly Ledbetter of the Supreme Court case on employment discrimination.  McCain accused Obama of not refuting statements made by Representative John Lewis associating McCain and Palin with George Wallace (Obama's campaign had indeed made a statement in opposition to those views).  Obama cited the Ledbetter case with regard to women's rights in the workplace.  Ledbetter lived and worked in Alabama.

The Swamp provides interesting insight into John Lewis' statement, defending his judgement as an actor in the Civil Rights Movement who faced extreme human hatred and violence.  Although the Obama campaign distanced itself from the worst of Lewis' remarks, comparison of McCain and Palin to Wallace, they also said that Lewis was right to criticize the incendiary accusations that have been coming from the Republican campaign.

Confusion over which crimes prohibit voting in Alabama

The state of Alabama is trying to sort out a confusing and potentially discriminatory situation over which crimes block a person from voting in the state.  Republican Gov. Bob Riley's office compiled a list of felony crimes that disallowed voting, but the list included hundreds of crimes that were previously not included to refuse felons their right to vote.  Court administrators say that the list is "overly broad" and that the list has been inappropriately used for months by county registrars to block felon voter registration.  A court placed the Secretary of State in charge of election issues, in place of Governor Riley, and they are trying to remedy the problem before Election Day, but there is no way to know how many people were told they could not register and will be discouraged from trying again.

On a similar note, I have to add that while conducting a voter registration drive in Dallas, recently, at a light rail station, we encountered two individuals who said they could not register because they were felons.  Texas state law says that after fully completing a sentence, felons may register to vote, but these two had been explicitly told when they left prison that they could not register to vote ever again.  This is a terrible injustice to people who have served the time sentenced to them, and are supposed to be able to re-enter society anew.  Hopefully Alabama will be able to sort out its mistakes.