It is the purpose of this chapter to provide for participation by the State of Alabama in programs of the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce which provide for furnishing census information to the states for purposes of reapportionment, pursuant to federal laws for that purpose. It is further the purpose of this chapter to reduce voter confusion and facilitate the election process in Alabama.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the definitions ascribed to them:

(1) PRECINCT. A geographical subdivision of a county having clearly visible, definable and observable physical boundaries which are based upon criteria established and recognized by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce for purposes of defining census blocks for its decennial census. A 'precinct' shall be the smallest geographical area for purposes of holding national, state or county-wide elections. A 'precinct' is also sometimes referred to as a 'voting district' by the Census Bureau and other agencies.

(2) CENSUS BUREAU. The Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, or any successor bureau or department which conducts an official decennial census of the United States.

(3) TASK FORCE or REAPPORTIONMENT TASK FORCE. The joint legislative task force on reapportionment.

(4) ELECTRONIC VOTE COUNTING STATUTES. Sections 17-24-1 through 17-24-11, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, or any subsequent statute providing county governing bodies with methods of electronic vote tabulations for election purposes.

(a) The governing body of each county shall establish precincts, define the territorial limits for which each precinct is established, prescribe their boundaries, and designate the precincts. The governing body of each county shall, by resolution, adopt the establishment and boundaries of each precinct in accordance with the timetable as set forth herein.

(b) Each precinct shall be a contiguous, compact area having clearly defined and clearly observable boundaries coinciding with visible features readily distinguishable on the ground such as designated highways, roads, streets, or rivers or be coterminous with a county boundary.

(c) Each county governing body shall provide and maintain at all times a suitable map showing the current geographical boundaries with designation of precincts and a legal description of the geographical boundaries of each precinct. Each county governing body shall send a copy of each map, with description attached, to the county board of registrars, the probate judge and the reapportionment task force. All features, names, titles, and symbols on the map shall be clearly shown and legible. Each map sheet shall indicate the date of the base map or the date of last revision.

(d)(1) In complying with the provisions of this section for the establishment of precincts and the prescription of their boundaries, each county governing body and the board of registrars shall coordinate with the reapportionment task force or their designees, pursuant to their authority to submit a plan for census data for reapportionment under the provisions of Section 199 of the State Constitution, and shall adopt or adjust precinct boundaries as may be necessary to comply with this section.

(2) Each county governing body shall by resolution adopt a proposal for the establishment or adjustment of precinct boundaries, in compliance with this section, no later than June 1, 1989, provided that any establishment of a precinct or adjustment of a precinct boundary to comply with this section shall be effective for the following purposes at the following times:

a. Not later than January 1, 1990, for the purpose of establishing block boundaries for the 1990 federal decennial census.

b. Not later than April 1, 1991, for all other election purposes.

(a) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the counties in this state, as divided pursuant to this chapter into election precincts and the boundaries of such precincts shall so remain until changed by order of the county governing body, but the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year beginning in 1990, shall subdivide any election precinct in which there are more than 300 qualified voters and paper ballots are used or in which there are more than 600 qualified voters and voting machines are used into voting districts or shall divide alphabetically the list of qualified voters in such precincts into groups and assign each qualified voter a designated voting place and a designated box or voting machine in such precinct so as to provide a box for every person legally entitled to vote at which not more than 300 paper ballots will be cast or a machine at which not more than 600 votes by voting machines will be cast.

(b) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year beginning in 1990, shall in their respective counties examine the state voter registration list, and if it shall appear from such examination and from other available sources of information that there is, in any election precinct as constituted pursuant to this chapter in which paper ballots are used, more than 300 legal voters, or that there is, in any election precinct as constituted pursuant to this chapter in which voting machines are used, more than 600 legal voters, they shall immediately either divide the precinct into voting districts so that no one district shall contain over 300 legal voters where paper ballots are used or 600 legal voters where voting machines are used or establish two or more places or provide additional boxes or voting machines at established polling places in such precinct and shall separate the list of qualified registered voters in the precinct, as shown by the state voter registration list as reported for the county, into groups in alphabetical order so that no group in a precinct in which paper ballots are used shall contain more than 300 qualified registered voters or in a precinct where voting machines are used more than 600 qualified registered voters and shall designate the place and box or machine in the precinct at which each qualified voter shall cast his or her ballot.

(c) Whenever any election precinct has been subdivided into voting districts, pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) , the county governing body making the subdivision shall immediately cause a description of the boundaries of the voting districts to be filed in the office of the judge of probate and with the board of registrars and shall post a copy thereof at the county courthouse.

(d) The precincts shall be named and designated by the county governing body numerically or alphabetically or by a combination thereof in a manner that shall be uniform statewide as determined by the Association of County Commissions and approved by the reapportionment task force.

(a) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the county governing bodies shall designate the places of holding elections in the precincts established hereunder, and, whenever the county has alphabetically divided the list of registered qualified voters of a precinct into groups, it shall designate not only the voting place but also the number of boxes or voting machines at each voting place in the precinct, being sure that it designates a box or machine for each group of qualified voters. The county governing body is specifically authorized to provide for installing as many boxes or machines as are needed in each precinct, and the boxes or machines may be installed at one designated voting place or there may be more than one voting place designated and such number of boxes or machines installed at each place as needed to provide for the voters authorized to vote at each place. The county governing body shall file with the judge of probate of the county and with the board of registrars along with a copy of its order fixing the boundaries of a precinct, the names of places designated for voting, indicating in those precincts in which the voters have been alphabetically divided into groups the voting places and boxes or voting machine at which each alphabetical group shall vote and shall also post the list of voting places at the county courthouse.

(b) The judge of probate, within five days after the county governing body of any county files with him or her the boundaries of the election precincts and the names of the voting places therein, shall give notice of the same by publishing the same in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county and shall have the same posted by the sheriff at the courthouse and at two public places in the election district of the precinct. The notice shall describe the election precincts by their numbers and shall specify the place therein where elections are to be held.

(c) Where election precincts have been subdivided into voting districts hereunder, no voter in any election held thereafter shall vote at any place other than the voting district in which the voter at the time is registered as a qualified elector. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any county, by local law, may establish voting centers by combining voters from two or more precincts in order to create a voting center in order to facilitate, or reduce costs, for elections.

(d) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, whenever places of voting are once designated and established as required by this chapter, the voting places for precincts shall not be changed within three months before an election is to be held. When the boundaries of election precincts are changed, the county governing body shall forthwith designate and establish at least one voting place for every 300, or 600 where voting machines are used, voters in each election precinct so created. Places of voting shall be the same for all elections, whether primary, general, or special, or federal, state, district, or county.

(e) The courthouse is the place of holding elections in the precinct in which it is situated unless another place for that purpose is designated by the county governing body. Elections must be held at such places in the other precincts as may be designated hereafter by the county governing body.

The judge of probate shall prepare a separate, correct alphabetical list of all the names of qualified electors or voters for each voting place from the state voter registration list, pursuant to Sections 17-4-129 and 17-4-130, for all elections hereafter held in this state, whether primary, general, or special, or federal, state, district, county, or municipal, and shall certify separately for each voting place, to the election officials appointed for holding election, each of which election official shall be an elector qualified to vote only in the box at the place for which he or she is chosen to serve, a list containing only the names of the voters or qualified electors entitled to vote at the voting place. However, with regard to municipal elections, the mayor of the city or town shall cause the list to be made and certified. Nothing in this section shall prevent a series of lists of names of voters or electors of other voting places from being certified by the judge of probate on the same general list for information. A vote cast at a place other than the voting place at which the voter is entitled to vote shall be illegal.

(a) The county governing body shall have sole authority to change the configuration, boundaries, or designation of an election precinct. Any change so determined shall be adopted by resolution of the county governing body.

(b) After June 1, 1989, a county governing body shall only change a precinct by dividing the precinct into two or more precincts except when in order to make it more convenient for voters to vote, or to facilitate the administration of the election process, or to accomplish reapportionment, it becomes necessary to consolidate all or part of a precinct with adjacent precincts, a part or parts may be consolidated.

(c) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, whenever at any general or primary election in any election precinct over 300 votes shall have been cast by paper ballot or 600 by voting machines, the county governing body shall readjust the boundary lines of said election precincts or shall separate the list of qualified registered voters in such precinct into alphabetical groups of not more than 300 when paper ballots are used or 600 when voting machines are used and may divide or consolidate any number of precincts and resubdivide the same in order that not more than 300 voters shall be contained in any one precinct and authorized to vote at one box when paper ballots are used, or not more than 600 voters shall be contained in any one precinct in which voting machines are used and voters are authorized to vote at only one place.

(d) In changing any precinct boundary, the county governing body shall comply with the requirements of Section 17-5A-3.

(e) Within 30 days after the adoption of any resolution as provided in this section, the county governing body shall send to the reapportionment task force a certified copy of the resolution and a copy of a map showing the new precinct boundaries together with a written description of such boundaries.

(a) The reapportionment task force, or its designees, shall serve as the state liaison with the United States Bureau of the Census on all matters related to the tabulation of population and other census information for purposes of reapportionment. The reapportionment task force may submit to the bureau, on behalf of the state, a plan identifying the geographic areas for which specific tabulations of population or other census information are desired for reapportionment purposes, in accordance with criteria established by the United States Secretary of Commerce, and may supply such other information as may be required by the Census Bureau or the Secretary of Commerce in order to furnish the state such tabulations.

(b) The reapportionment task force shall furnish the county governing bodies and the county boards of registrars such information and assistance as is necessary in order to enable them to comply timely with the Census Bureau requirements.

All state and county agencies and officials shall cooperate with the reapportionment task force in carrying out the purposes of this chapter and shall cooperate with the reapportionment task force in the development of all information, maps, and other data as is needed to comply with requirements of the Census Bureau. Failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall be a Class B misdemeanor punishable as prescribed by law.

The provisions of this chapter shall have no effect on the conduct of municipal elections of this state. It is further specifically provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to require any municipality to establish single or multiple representation districts for the election of municipal officials in this state. It is further provided that all general or local provisions of law regarding the conduct of municipal elections are hereby expressly preserved.