SB153 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Linda Coleman-MadisonSenator

Democrat

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Restoration of Voting Rights; notification to convicted individuals seeking restoration; Pardons and Paroles Board required to notify individuals and Secretary of State when voting rights restored

Summary

The bill would create a formal process and public postings for restoring voting rights to convicted individuals, with notification and re-registration steps for counties when rights are restored.

What This Bill Does

It requires the Board of Pardons and Paroles to publish instructions for applying to restore voting rights and to post the names of people whose rights have been restored, along with notifying the Secretary of State. It also requires the relevant county registrars to re-register these individuals when appropriate and add them to the poll list. The bill sets deadlines for developing and making available a renewal form and requires information sharing about restoration dates and addresses between agencies.

Who It Affects

• Individuals who lost voting rights due to conviction and meet restoration requirements, who will have a formal restoration process, public postings, and potential re-registration when their rights are restored.
• Administrative bodies and offices (Pardons and Paroles Board, Secretary of State, and county boards of registrars) that must publish restoration information, share records (including addresses and restoration dates), notify individuals, and re-register eligible voters.

Key Provisions

• Adds Section 17-3-31.1 requiring the Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Secretary of State to jointly develop and publish a form with instructions for applying for a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote for individuals who met certain restoration criteria prior to October 1, 2025.
• The Board of Pardons and Paroles must post on its website the name of each individual whose voting rights have been restored and the county of last registration or last known residence (or for those who never registered). It must provide the Secretary of State with the individual's address and the restoration date, or note if the address is unknown.
• Upon restoration, the Secretary of State must notify the individual and the county board of registrars of the restoration date.
• County boards of registrars must add the individual's name to the poll list and notify the individual of when they are eligible to vote, with an exception for those who never registered before restoration.
• The act becomes effective October 1, 2025.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Elections, Voting, & Campaigns