150,000 voters signup in state since December

By By Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene
Nearly 150,000 people have registered to vote in Alabama since last December and nearly two-thirds are under age 30, pushing the number of registered voters in the state to almost three million.
I have suggested to friends that they should plan to be out of their county on Nov. 4 to be able to vote absentee and avoid what I believe will be a near tsunami at the polling places. I hope our election officials and law enforcement officials are prepared for a situation that will likely be confusing for many new voters. Rest assured lines will be long.
It is incredible that in Alabama we have not provided for voting at least two weeks out from an election and done away with the Mickey Mouse requirement that we all march to the polling places during a single 12-hour period. Many states have made this adjustment in order to get a greater involvement in the election process. It would certainly be more convenient for voters and ease the lines on election day. Won't some legislator step forward with such a plan?
In order to vote absentee, a voter must be in one of the following situations: WILL BE ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY on election day; IS ILL OR HAS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY that prevents a trip to the polling place; IS A REGISTERED ALABAMA VOTER LIVING OUTSIDE THE COUNTY, such as a member of the armed forces, a voter employed outside the United States, a college student, or a spouse or child of such a person; IS AN APPOINTED ELECTION OFFICER OR POLL WATCHER at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place, WORKS A REQUIRED SHIFT, 10-HOURS OR MORE, that coincides with polling hours. For more information go to the Secretary of State's web site: (http://www.sos.state.al.us/).
State's voting practices under scrutiny
To make things even worse for the election season, Alabama's voting practices are again being probed by the Justice Department because the state has checked the Social Security numbers of more than a million state voters. Last week, Justice and the Social Security Administration sent letters to Sec. of State Beth Chapman, questioning why Alabama had checked the Social Security numbers of one-third of Alabama voter registrations between Oct. 1, 2007, and Oct. 1.
The chief of the Justice Department's Voting Section, said Alabama's volume of checks was "significantly higher" than normal for a state of Alabama's size.
Neither Chapman nor Gov. Bob Riley disputed that 1 million checks were performed but assured Justice that there was nothing to be concerned about. Then it was revealed that six Alabama counties have more people registered to vote than adults of voting age. The Birmingham News compared the state's voter registration numbers with the Census Bureau's population estimates and found more registered voters than voting-age adults in Conecuh, Greene, Lowndes, Perry, Washington and Wilcox counties.
With regard to the number of voters in the six counties listed above, which have more voters than population, there should be some state oversight and either the polls or the population count should be verified.
Veterinarians seek help on Spay/Neuter tag program
The Alabama Veterinary Medical Foundation (ALVMF) urgently needs the help of the residents of Alabama as they attempt to control the crisis of unwanted pets! There are more than 135,000 euthanasia procedures performed each year in the state.
The vets encourage Alabamians to participate in a Spay/Neuter License Plate program unveiled in November of last year. There are less than two weeks left to meet the pre-sale deadline of October 30, 2008, to get a plate and help bring this crisis under control.
The cost of the tag is the standard $50 like other specialized tags, with $41.25 of each sale going to the Foundation to assist low-income families with the cost of spaying and neutering their pets. A thousand tags must be pre-sold by Oct. 30 in order for the program to be implemented.
Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. E-mail him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com