By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
There are only two days left to qualify to run in the June 3rd party primaries. To run for a statewide office, the state legislature, or the United States Congress you need to file all qualifying papers including all fees with one of the two major political parties of your choice no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
The Alabama Republican Party announced in a written statement that it will end its qualifying period on Friday, February 7 at 5:00 p.m. CST. Qualifying forms and fees must be received before the close of business on the last day of qualifying. Qualifying forms and fees that were postmarked but did not arrive at headquarters prior to the end of close will be null and void.
The Alabama Republican Party suggests that all Republicans wishing to qualify as a candidate do so in person, at the ALGOP Headquarters, 3505 Lorna Road in Birmingham. If a candidate would like to overnight mail their qualifying form and fee, it is their responsibility to ensure the documents arrive at ALGOP Headquarters before 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, February 7. If you have any questions, please contact Harold Sachs or Britney Garner at 205-212-5900.
The Alabama Democratic Party is also closing their qualifying at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. File the following with the Alabama Democratic Party state headquarters, 501 Adams Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104, or mail certified to P.O. Box 950, Montgomery, AL 36101:
- Statement of Economic Interests (if necessary)
- Appointment of Principal Campaign Committee Form (if necessary)
- Completed and notarized Declaration of Candidacy
- Qualifying fee by check or money order Qualifying fees are based on 2% of the base salary for each office. The following calculations are subject to change if found to be incorrect. For Congress the fee is $3,480. For the Alabama House of Representatives the fee is $1,100.92.
Contact the Alabama Democratic Party at (334) 262-2221 for more details.
If you want to run for a county office contact your county party chairman immediately. The deadline for qualifying to run for a county office is also five o’clock on Friday in all counties that ‘The Alabama Political Reporter’ is aware of. It is our understanding that if you want to serve on your county party executive committee you must qualify by Friday as well.
The qualifying deadline had been set in April and that was widely reported, but the U.S. Justice Department, acting on behalf of Americans overseas including our soldiers serving abroad, demanded earlier qualifying so that there would be sufficient time for the Alabama Secretary of State’s office to prepare ballots so that those overseas American citizens could receive, fill out, and mail back in absentee ballots in time to be counted in their party primaries.
In January Alabama Secretary of State Jim Bennett (R) settled the pending federal litigation by agreeing to move the qualifying deadline to February 7th.
Candidates representing minor political parties or who are running as independents are not affected by these changes. They have until June 3rd to file all of their paperwork, including the petitions to receive general election ballot access. Contact the Alabama Secretary of State’s office for more details about independent or third party qualifying.
