City of LaFayette provides election information to voters
CONTRIBUTED BY CITY OF LAFAYETTE
LAFAYETTE — The city of LaFayette will hold a general election for the mayor and two council positions on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. The purpose of this article is to provide the people of LaFayette with some information on the procedures to be followed during this election to assist the people in voting.
On Aug. 26, the polls will be open at the LaFayette High School Gymnasium from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. CST to allow people to cast votes. If you are a qualified voter of LaFayette, you are eligible to vote. In Districts B and D, citizens will be voting for the postions of mayor and the city council member from their district. In Districts A, C and E, since Milford, Thomas and Williams were the only candidates in their specific district, they were all declared winners at the July 7, 2025 city council meeting, and the voters in District A, District C and District E will only cast votes for a candidate for mayor.
Earlier it was mentioned that since this is a city election, only voters in the city of LaFayette are eligible to vote. A list of qualified voters will be published Aug. 20 in the LaFayette Sun newspaper. If you are a resident of LaFayette, at least 18 years old and a registered voter, then your name should be on that list. If you think you are a registered voter in LaFayette, but your name is not on the list, please contact City Clerk Louis T. Davidson at (334) 864-7181. Also, if your name is on the list but in a different district than the one in which you now live, you have moved since you last voted. For those that have moved, you need to reidentify yourself to bring your voter registration up-to-date. The process to reidentify is easy: you will need to visit the Chambers County Board of Registrars and you will be asked to fill out a short update form. That is all there is to it. The Board of Registrars is in the County Office Building in LaFayette, and the hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CST.
There will be some instances where not everyone in LaFayette who has moved since the last election will have reidentified before this election. Therefore, they probably will not be listed as eligible voters in the proper district. In this case, where the voter is included as a LaFayette voter but in the wrong district, the person will need to complete an update form at the polls and then vote using a provisional ballot.
On election day, if a person’s name cannot be found on the LaFayette voters list and cannot be found by contacting the Board of Registrars, then the person will be asked to vote with a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot is similar to a regular ballot, but the provisional ballot will not be counted by machine. After the polls close, the provisional ballots are kept in the sealed container at City Hall while the affidavits of the provisional voters are taken to the Board of Registrars. The Board of Registrars will use that week between the election date, Aug. 26, and the date, Sept. 2, when the council canvasses the results to review the affidavits of the provisional voters and make a determination of eligibility. A report is made to the council prior to the meeting to canvass the results on Tuesday, Sept. 2. If the board determines the provisional vote was cast by an eligible voter, the council will count the vote. If the person is not shown to be an eligible voter, the vote is not counted.
Everyone needs to be aware that all voters will be expected to show photo identification to the poll workers before being allowed to vote. There are many forms of acceptable photo identification. A complete list is available at City Hall. The most common form of identification is a current driver’s license; other forms of ID include a valid Alabama non-driver identification card, a valid Alabama photo voter identification card and a valid US passport.
In some instances, people may want to vote but will be out of town on election day. Those people may still vote by casting an absentee ballot. This process begins with the voter applying for an absentee ballot on a prescribed application form. The blank application form can be given to anyone. A completed application for absentee ballot may only be returned in person or through the mail. Only one absentee ballot application is allowed per envelope. Multiple absentee ballot applications per envelope will not be accepted and will be returned to the sender. The last day that the city clerk can receive an application for a regular absentee ballot by mail is Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. The last day to hand deliver to the city clerk an application for a regular absentee ballot is Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. All applications must include photo identification unless the voter claims a physical illness or infirmity and they are either an elderly voter aged 65 or older or is a voter with a disability.
The purpose of this article is to assist those people wanting to vote in the LaFayette Election on Aug. 26. Through following the appropriate procedures contained in this article, everyone should be able to cast their vote quickly and conveniently on Aug. 26.
