An absentee voting information sign at Highlands United Methodist Church in Birmingham's Five Points area.
Monday, Oct. 19, is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election.
You still may register to vote online through the Secretary of State’s Office. Go here to fill out the form online.
You also can register at your county’s Board of Registrars and other locations. In Birmingham, you can register at the Board of Registrars Office in the downtown courthouse, the revenue or probate departments in the Bessemer courthouse, and at most libraries. You can find those locations listed on the registration locations link here.
Alabama does not have no-excuse absentee voting, but fear of contracting COVID-19 at the polls is a valid excuse this year. Voters have submitted more than 160,000 absentee ballot applications so far. More than 91,000 have been returned, which is a record for Alabama. Long lines for in-person absentee voting in Jefferson County prompted officials to open the courthouse this past Saturday and again this coming Saturday.
Local election officials have struggled to keep up with the flood of in-person voters and voter mail.
WBHM’s Andrew Yeager contributed reporting.
Health experts are warning about gathering with friends and family over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
The COVID-19 caseloads in Alabama hospitals are "worsening fairly rapidly," according to the president of the Alabama Hospital Association.
"We don’t want to send money back to Washington. We want to make sure that it’s spent here and for us to do that, we need to make sure we’ve looked at every avenue possible," said Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin wants to use $7 million from the reserve fund to bring back more than 130 furloughed city employees. But the city council is not sold.
Birmingham Public Library Executive Director Floyd Council was back at work Friday after one month of being suspended without pay.
Voters who cast their ballots last week at Horizon Church may have been exposed to COVID-19.
