House Bill 521 Alabama 2026 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Frances Holk-JonesRepresentative

Republican

Session

2026 Regular Session

Title

Board of Registrars; daily pay rate increased, background checks required, authorize pay during emergencies, qualification for compensation during holidays and emergencies specified

Summary

HB521 would overhaul Alabama's boards of registrars and the voter list system by adding background checks for appointees, expanding pay and benefits during emergencies, creating a centralized voter registration list, and allowing privacy options for voters.

What This Bill Does

Requires criminal background checks for candidates for appointment to the board of registrars, with the candidate paying the cost, and requires findings reported to the state board of appointment; starting Oct 1, 2025, the board must consider diversity in race, gender, urban/rural status, and economy of the county when making appointments. Changes compensation and benefits for registrars, including a daily pay of $115 for attendance, state funding to counties for these payments, and mileage/travel reimbursements, with special rules for holidays and emergencies and county-population-based exceptions. Treats registrars as state employees for disaster relief funding and Social Security protections, and allows counties to offer health insurance to long-serving registrars under specified terms. Establishes a centralized statewide voter registration list managed by the Secretary of State, accessible to election officials, containing name, address, voting location, unique ID, and voting history, and to be coordinated with the driver's license database to remove deceased voters; provides copies to political parties after elections. Allows an affidavit-based process for omitting most personal information from publicly available voter lists for certain protective or relational reasons, with the affidavit form provided by the Secretary of State.

Who It Affects

• Candidates for appointment to the county boards of registrars — must undergo criminal background checks, pay the cost, and have findings reported to the appointing board; appointment considerations will include county diversity starting Oct 1, 2025.
• Voters and election officials — voters may request omission of most personal information from public voter lists via an affidavit; election officials will use and access a centralized statewide voter registration list, and parties may receive electronic copies of the list after elections.

Key Provisions

• Candidates for appointment to the board of registrars must undergo a state and federal criminal history background check through the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency no more than 60 days before appointment consideration; the candidate bears the cost; findings are reported to the state board of appointment; starting October 1, 2025, the board must consider county racial, gender, urban/rural, and economic diversity when appointing registrars.
• Registrars shall be paid $115 per day for attendance; the pay is funded by the state and disbursed to county commissions, which then pay each registrar; includes the employer share of Social Security; holidays and emergency days are compensated; mileage and travel expenses are reimbursed; some provisions do not apply to counties with populations of 600,000 or more.
• Registrars may be treated as state employees for disaster relief funding and related Social Security protections; county provisions exist for health insurance eligibility for long-serving registrars (16 years or more) under terms similar to county employees.
• A centralized statewide voter registration list shall be provided and maintained by the Secretary of State; it shall be the official list for all elections and include names, addresses, voting locations, unique identifiers, and voting history; it shall be coordinated with the DMV/LEA data to help remove deceased voters; election officials may access the list electronically; after elections, the Secretary shall provide electronic copies of the list to qualified political parties within specified timeframes, with additional copies available on written request.
• Voter lists may include an affidavit process to omit all information except name from generally available voter lists for specified protective or relational reasons (e.g., domestic violence, protective orders, or certain relationships to prosecutors, judges, or law enforcement), with the required affidavit form created by the Secretary of State.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 26, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Elections, Voting, & Campaigns