Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, speaks with a colleague on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 10, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate passed Coleman-Madison's bill that would streamline the process for formerly incarcerated Alabamians to get their voting rights restored. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would streamline the process for formerly incarcerated Alabamians to get their voting rights restored.
SB 24, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, requires the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Secretary of State to develop a website with instructions on how a formerly incarcerated person “may have their right to vote restored” in an easily accessible manner.
“They just put on a web page, more of a notification deal, that they will be able to go to find out if they have completed everything,” Coleman-Madison said.
The bill would require the Board of Pardons and Paroles, starting in March 2027, to publish a list of names that have qualified to have their voting rights restored and the county in which they reside. The board must also submit the list to the Secretary of State, who must then publish the list on its website.
A message seeking comment from the Secretary of State Wes Allen was left Thursday afternoon.
Cam Ward, director of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, said in a statement that the legislation will help the board continue its efforts to increase awareness on the restoration of voting rights process.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred American privileges. As part of our duty to ensure success for Alabamians reentering society following prison or probation, the Bureau will continue working with the Board to streamline the Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote process,” he said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), treason and impeachment are the only crimes not eligible for restoration of voting rights.
According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, 21,097 people were in Alabama’s prisons as of November. The state is building a new prison in Elmore County, which is scheduled to open in October, to help reduce overcrowding.
The bill passed 26-0. It goes to the House.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Anna Barrett