Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, stands on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives during a session February 6, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. Jackson filed a bill to create early voting centers across the state to make it easier for people to vote. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

A state representative has filed a bill to establish early voting in Alabama, the latest in a series of Democratic bills intended to encourage more state residents to exercise their right to vote.

HB 59sponsored by Rep. Thomas Jackson, a Thomasville Democrat, would open polls four days before the election in each county to give the electorate more time to vote and potentially reduce wait times at polling places .

“This bill is not a partisan bill,” Jackson said in an interview Friday. “It’s non-partisan. Republicans, seniors, blacks and whites alike, asked, “Why can’t we have early voting?” We don’t want to wait in line.

Alabama currently does not allow people to vote in person before Election Day. Alabama currently offers mail-in voting, but only for a limited number of reasons.

Subscribe: Get morning headlines delivered to your inbox

According to the Movement Advancement Project, an independent nonprofit think tank based in Boulder, Colorado, Alabama is one of three states that does not offer early voting or require voters to indicate the reason for their early vote.. The other two states are Mississippi and New Hampshire.

In recent years, the state has passed more restrictive voting laws, including banning drop boxes and criminal penalties for certain types of absentee voting assistance.

“Instead of suppressing voting, we want to open access to the ballot box for democracy, so people can participate,” Jackson said. “People have to work, there are emergencies, so they can’t go to the polls that day if something happens. If they don’t have a mail-in ballot, they’re missing out on their vote.”

Under Jackson’s bill, each county would provide at least one early voting center. Centers must be open four to six days before Election Day, and they must be open for at least four hours, depending on the day.

The proposal would require centers to be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Democrats have filed several bills for the upcoming session to make voting easier.

Another bill, HB 64pre-filed by Ontario Rep. Tillman, D-Bessemer, would apply to gubernatorial and presidential elections and declare Election Day a public holiday every two years.

BS 7filed by Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, is a full set of voting rights with a series of provisions, including restoring the right to vote to those who lost it due to a felony conviction; Voter registration on Election Day and the creation of an Alabama Voting Rights Commission with the power to review and prevent legislation that limits voting access from taking effect.

Alabama traditionally has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. The Alabama Secretary of State’s office said last month that 58.5% of registered voters voted in the presidential election, the lowest percentage since 1988.

According to the University of Florida Elections LaboratoryAlabama had the 10th worst voter turnout in the country. The worst was Hawaii, with just over 50%. Aside from Indiana (58.6%), the other nine states with low voter turnout are in the South.

Voting rights groups have filed a lawsuit challenging BS 1sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this year, which criminalized people who assisted or received assistance with absentee voting, alleging it amounted to voter suppression. A federal district judge blocked parts of the law from taking effect, ruling that it violated a provision of the Voting Rights Act relating to blind, illiterate and disabled voters.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE