Tue. Nov 5th, 2024

A line of people outside a church under cloudy skies

A line of voters runs out the door and outside the building at Woodland Methodist Church in Pike Road, Alabama on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Alabama is one of a handful of states where all in-person voting takes place on Election Day. (Jemma Stephenson/Alabama Reflector)

Alabamians lining up to vote on Tuesday morning cited many reasons for coming out to cast their ballots. 

In interviews with more than two dozen voters in central Alabama and outside Huntsville, supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump often cited the economy as a top issue. 

Republican voters tended to cite immigration as a major concern for them. Democratic voters frequently cited reproductive rights as the reason for their votes.

Specific statewide turnout numbers were not available early Tuesday afternoon.

“Turnout is good from what we are hearing from the counties we have been talking to,” Laney Rawls, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office, said early Tuesday afternoon. “But as far as percentages are concerned, we do not have that.”

About 63% of registered Alabama voters cast ballots in the 2020 election, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.  In percentage terms, the largest state turnout for a presidential election in the last 38 years was in 1992, when 76% of registered voters cast ballots.

The St. Clair County Probate Judge’s office said in a statement early Tuesday afternoon that some ballots in the county were printed without state and local amendments listed on them. The office said corrected ballots were being printed and delivered to affected polling places, but said “longer than normal wait times are to be expected.”

“The Probate Court staff is diligently working to address these issues to ensure all voters are able to vote on all ballot measures,” the statement said.

Trump voters

James Pickutt of Pike Road, voted for Trump, saying he was most concerned about the future direction of the country. 

“You can look at what he did before, and you can look at the current administration,” he said. “And it’s like, ‘Okay, which one do you want? And so I thought, ‘Well, we did better under him.”

Katherine Steadman, a realtor from Owens Cross Roads, said she voted for Trump because “I want to make sure we have a future for our children.”

“I feel like the country has been going the wrong way,” she said. “A lot of things have been a little crazy with the younger generation and I wanted to have my say.”

Jerry Dillard, a retiree from Pike Road, said his vote for Trump was not about the candidate but the policies he advocated, saying he was concerned about “open borders and the economy.”  

Ben Schrimsher of Owens Cross Roads, who voted for Trump, also said the economy was his top issue. 

“He’s got a record,” he said. “He’s proven his record the last time he was in office … in comparison to Kamala Harris, I think he’s the better option.”

John West of Montgomery, who works for a medical supply company, voted for Donald Trump “because of economic values.” 

“The way I look at it is, you look at the four years you did before, prices were lower, gas was lower, mortgage rates were lower,” he said. “It is basic economics for me.”

Other Trump supporters, like Suzie Stallings of Owens Cross Roads, who works in the health care industry, cited both the economy and immigration. 

“I think he’s going to get us back on the path to keeping the illegal immigrants out of the country and keeping us safer,” she said. “I think we are better off financially with his economic plan.” 

Harris supporters

Harris supporters also said the economy was important to them, but also cited other issues, from health care policies to their opposition to Trump. Brenda Morris, a school librarian from Pike Road, said abortion rights and health care access were her key concerns.

“Her issues are aligned with some of the issues that I’m concerned about,” he said. “We’ve closed some of the rural hospitals, and more hospitals are going to be closed because we did not get federal money. So yes, that’s why I’m voting for her.” 

Health care and abortion access were also on the mind of Jennifer Heathington, a retired software engineer from Owens Cross Roads.

“You’re going to tell me when and what I can do with my body,” she said. “That can lead to other things most of the time. It’s a smokescreen for something else. After a while, I can’t take this medicine for diabetes because of my skin color, or my age, or because I’m a woman, so I can’t do that. So what else does it lead to? So, it needs to end here.”  

Galen Gorham of Notasulga, a student at Tuskegee University who voted for Harris, said reproductive rights were her most important issue. 

“If you have health issues, and a baby is risking your life, sometimes those steps have to be made, and people are dying because they can’t get the care that they need,” she said. “And I just really don’t like that, being a woman.”

Linda Bassett, a retiree from Montgomery, said Harris was “for all people, economic wealth and values.”

“Health insurance is number one,” she said. “They have a cap on insulin, and I am a diabetic, a $35 cap. That is important to me, health insurance.”

Jennifer Carmichael, an attorney from Owens Cross Roads who voted for Harris, said she was concerned about the future of the country.

“I believe we should have multiple parties and a variety of viewpoints, and I think Kamala Harris respects that,” she said. “Even though there are some issues that I actually agree with the Republican Party about, I think that the rhetoric and dialogue and approach that the Republican Party has taken just undermines the sanctity of the system.” 

Some voters also reflected on the potential to make history. 

“We’ve had a Black president before, but never a woman, and as a young person in America who’s Black, I feel like it’s not something you see often,” said Ja’Kiya Pickens, a student at Tuskegee University casting her first vote. “And then she seems to support everything we support. I feel like we’ll be taken care of as the American people, not just the rich white males, but everyone.”

This story was reported by Ralph Chapoco; Alander Rocha; Jemma Stephenson and Megan Plotka. It was written by Brian Lyman. Updated at 1:16 p.m. with statement from the St. Clair County Probate Judge’s Office about ballot issues at certain precincts.

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