(a) In all municipal elections on any subject which may be submitted by law to a vote of the people of the municipality and for any municipal officers, if paper ballots are used, the voting shall be by official ballot printed and distributed as provided in subsections (c) and (d), and no ballot shall be received or counted in any election unless it is provided as prescribed by law.
(b) There shall be but one form of ballot for all the candidates for municipal office and every ballot provided for use at any polling place in a municipal election shall contain the names of all candidates who have properly qualified and have not withdrawn, as provided in subsection (g), together with the title of the office for which they are candidates.
(c) All ballots shall be printed in black ink on clear book paper. At the bottom of each ballot and at a point an equal distance from the sides thereof there shall be printed a one-inch square in which the number of the ballot shall be placed by the inspector when the ballot is cast. The arrangement of the ballot shall in general conform substantially to the plan given in subsection (f).
(d) Ballots shall be fastened together in convenient numbers in books or blocks in such manner that each ballot may be detached and removed separately, and each ballot shall have attached to it a stub of sufficient size to enable one of the inspectors to write or stamp his or her name or initials thereon and so attached to the ballot that when the same is folded the stub can be detached therefrom without injury to the ballot or exposing the contents thereof.
(e) Absentee ballots shall be in the form prescribed for absentee ballots by Title 17.
(f) The ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following form:
(g) Upon confirmation from the Alabama Ethics Commission that a candidate has complied with the filing requirements under Section 36-25-15, the clerk shall cause to be printed on the ballots the name of any qualified elector who, by 5:00 P.M. on the fourth Tuesday in June preceding the date set for the election, has filed a statement of candidacy, accompanied by an affidavit taken and certified by an officer authorized to take acknowledgments in this state that the individual is duly qualified to hold the office for which the individual desires to become a candidate. The statement shall be substantially in the following form:
"State of Alabama, _____ County. I, the undersigned, being first duly sworn, depose and say that I am a citizen of the city (or town) of _____, in the county, and reside at _____, in the city (or town); that I have been or will have been on the date of the municipal election a resident of the city (or town) for a period of not less than 90 days; that I desire to become a candidate for the office of _____ in the city (or town) for the term of _____ years at the election for the office to be held on the _____ day of _____ , 2__; that I am presently a qualified elector of the city (or town) of_____; and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official ballot at the election.
(h) No names shall be printed upon the ballot as candidates for election except the names of individuals who have become candidates in the manner prescribed in subsection (g) nor may any individual be a candidate or be permitted to file a declaration for more than one place or position in a group of offices of the same name when the offices have been designated by number as authorized in Section 11-46-22.
(i) All statements of candidacy filed with the mayor within the time prescribed in subsection (g) shall be preserved for six months after the election for which the statements of candidacy were filed.
(j) Any candidate may withdraw as a candidate by giving written notice to the mayor, at any time, prior to the date of the election. If a candidate withdraws, as herein provided, the election officials shall, if paper ballots are used in the election, draw a line in ink through the name of the candidate and if electronic voting tabulators are used in the election, the name of the candidate shall be removed from the ballot in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines or instructions.
All written notices of withdrawal filed with the mayor shall be preserved for six months after the election.
Structure Code of Alabama
Title 11 - Counties and Municipal Corporations.
Title 2 - Provisions Applicable to Municipal Corporations Only.
Article 2 - Elections in Certain Cities or Towns Having Mayor-Council Form of Government.
Section 11-46-21 - Time of Elections; Notice; Assumption of Duties by Elected Officers.
Section 11-46-22 - Notice of Elections.
Section 11-46-24 - Designating and Equipping Voting Places; Election Officials; Canvass Returns.
Section 11-46-25 - Ballots; Statements of Candidacy; Withdrawal of Candidacy.
Section 11-46-26 - Proceedings Where Only One Candidate or Nominee for Office.
Section 11-46-27 - Appointment, Compensation, etc., of Election Officers.
Section 11-46-29 - Appointment of Election Officers Upon Failure of Others to Attend Polls.
Section 11-46-32 - Election Supplies.
Section 11-46-33 - Duties of Clerk as to Voting Machines.
Section 11-46-34 - Voting Booths.
Section 11-46-40 - Assistance of Disabled Electors Generally.
Section 11-46-43 - Right of Secret Ballot; Write-in Voting Prohibited.
Section 11-46-49 - Election Officers for Voting Machines; Duties.
Section 11-46-56 - Absentee Ballots - Eligibility.
Section 11-46-58 - Absentee Ballots - Marking, Posting, etc., of Lists of Applicants.
Section 11-46-59 - Offenses of Mayor and Other Executive Officers.
Section 11-46-60 - Offenses of Clerks.
Section 11-46-61 - Offenses of Election Officers Generally.
Section 11-46-62 - Offenses of Inspectors.
Section 11-46-63 - Failure of Returning Officer to Deliver Statement of Votes and Poll List.
Section 11-46-64 - Deception of Disabled Voters by Marker, Etc.
Section 11-46-65 - Drinking of Intoxicating Liquors by Watcher.
Section 11-46-67 - Offenses of Electors.
Section 11-46-68 - Miscellaneous Offenses.
Section 11-46-69 - Contest of Elections - Grounds; Commencement of Action.
Section 11-46-70 - Contest of Elections - Trial; Entry of Judgment.
Section 11-46-71 - Annulment of Elections.
Section 11-46-72 - Procedure Where Election Not Held on Day Appointed.
Section 11-46-73 - Provisions of Article as to Offenses Cumulative.
Section 11-46-74 - Use of Election Dates Established by Classification Act or Local Act.