By Seven Weaver Producer
Associated Press
How Alabama's presidential primary on Tuesday works:Associated Press
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Stumble It!POLL HOURS: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
VOTER ID: Voters should bring some identification to the polls,
such as a driver's license, Medicaid, Medicaid or Social Security
card, birth certificate, passport, or a utility bill or bank
statement with the voter's name and address.
OPEN PRIMARY: Alabama has an open primary because voters don't
register by political party. At the polls, a voter will choose
whether to vote Democratic or Republican, but a voter can't cast a
ballot in both primaries.
PICKING DELEGATES: A voter will select a presidential candidate
and then vote for convention delegates pledged to that candidate.
If a person casts a vote for a delegate not pledged to that
person's presidential choice, the vote for that delegate won't
count. But the vote for the presidential candidate will count.
ALLOCATING DELEGATES: In the Democratic primary, any candidate
who gets more than 15 percent of the vote in any congressional
district will get delegates based on the percentage of the vote. In
the Republican primary, the threshold for getting delegates is 20
percent in a congressional district and statewide. If a candidate
gets more than 50 percent of the vote, he gets all the delegates.
DROPOUTS: Some of the candidates who have dropped out are still
on Alabama ballots. Voters can still vote for them and for
delegates pledged to them. If the withdrawn candidates cross the
threshold for delegates in either party, then their delegates will
go to the national convention. The Republican delegates would go as
unpledged delegates, party spokesman Philip Bryan said. On the
Democratic side, the delegates would still be pledged to their
candidate. Then the candidate could release the delegates to vote
for someone else at the convention, party executive director Jim
Spearman said.
DELEGATES BEING ELECTED: 34 elected from congressional districts
in the Democratic primary. 21 elected from congressional districts
and 24 elected statewide in the Republican primary.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
