EVCIElection Voter-Confidence Index

§ 17-6-81 establishes a statutory requirement to publish ballot-measure information (ballot statements) with defined content requirements (text, summary, placement, plain language, tax impact) and specified timing (60 days prior to vote) on the Secretary of State website. However, the criterion asks for a 'voter pamphlet' covering both 'candidate and ballot-question information.' This statute addresses only statewide ballot measures, not candidate information or candidate filings. The mechanism (online posting) differs from traditional 'pamphlets' but satisfies the functional analog requirement. The section demonstrates statutory codification of ballot-information content requirements and distribution method, but is limited to ballot measures rather than comprehensive candidate-and-measure coverage that would fully satisfy the criterion as stated.

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute establishes a duty for the Secretary of State to make campaign finance statements and reports publicly accessible during regular office hours, and provides a mechanism for copying at the requester's expense. However, the criterion asks specifically about candidate-filing documents (nominating petitions, eligibility certifications). This section addresses financial disclosure and campaign committee reports, not nominating petitions or eligibility certifications. The statute does codify public accessibility and establishes a mechanism, but it does not clearly address the specific candidate-filing documents asked about in CAND.1, nor does it define a specific timeline (only 'regular office hours'). The section partially satisfies the public access component but does not fully address the document types or timing specificity required by the criterion.

“To make each statement and report filed by any principal campaign committee or political action committee or elected official available for public inspection and copying during regular office hours”

This section codifies a procedure for candidate withdrawal BEFORE ballot printing (76 days before primary), establishing a notification requirement ('forthwith notify') and a withdrawal deadline that prevents printing. However, the criterion specifically asks about disqualification or withdrawal AFTER the ballot is printed. This statute addresses the pre-printing scenario but does not codify any public-notice procedure for post-printing disqualifications or withdrawals. The section satisfies part of the criterion's scope (withdrawal procedures with timing) but fails to address the critical post-printing scenario that the criterion targets. A dual-scholar approach would recognize the statutory codification of withdrawal timing as satisfying a narrower interpretation of candidate withdrawal procedures, but the absence of post-printing public-notice mechanisms leaves the criterion only partially satisfied.

“If a candidate signifies the desire to withdraw his or her name within the above time limit, it shall not be printed on the ballot.”

Alabama Code § 17-9-5 establishes a statutory requirement for pre-election notification with timing (14 days) and content (election date and offices/subjects to be voted on) clearly defined. However, the criterion asks whether the statute defines notice of 'date, polling place, and registration deadline.' This section specifies date and offices but does NOT explicitly require notification of polling places or registration deadlines. The statute limits required content to 'only of the date of the election and the officers to be voted for or subjects to be voted on,' expressly excluding other information. This satisfies two of three component requirements (date and content definition exist), but fails on polling place and registration deadline notification mandates. The statute establishes the procedural framework for timing and some content, but incompletely addresses all three informational elements asked in the criterion.

Alabama Code § 17-6-4(d) establishes a procedural constraint preventing polling place changes within three months before an election, which indirectly protects voters from unexpected changes. However, the statute does not explicitly require individual voter notification when polling place changes do occur between elections. Subsection (b) requires the judge of probate to publish notice of precincts and voting places in a newspaper of general circulation and post notices at public locations, but this is notice of initial designation, not of subsequent changes to existing polling places. The statute contains no timeframe requirement for notifying individual voters of polling place changes, nor does it mandate direct individual notice (by mail, email, etc.). The public notice requirements are general publication and posting, not targeted individual notification. Under the dual-scholar test, one scholar would note the protective mechanism in § 17-6-4(d) limits when changes can occur; another would observe the absence of explicit individual notice requirements and defined timeframes for communicating changes to registered voters.

“Except as provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting laws, whenever voting places are once designated and established as required by this section, the voting places for precincts shall not be changed within three months before an election is to be held.”