Alabama’s special primary election is today, Aug. 11.

Alabama voters in certain congressional districts are casting extra ballots after months of legal issues resulted in Gov. Kay Ivey calling the special primary election.

Alabama’s voting turnout is relatively low on average, with 2024’s numbers clocking in at 58.5%, the lowest turnout in 30 years. Experts say this could be caused by a lack of information around the voting process.

Here’s who is on the ballot today.

Who is on the ballot for Alabama special primary?

Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 will all have multiple Republican candidates on the ballot. Only District 6 has Democratic candidates on the ballot as well, as it was the only district with multiple candidates who qualified to run.

Here’s a full list of all the candidates you’ll see on Aug. 11 ballots. Voters can find sample ballots online at the Secretary of State’s website.

For decades, Alabama has remained one of the nation’s most active death penalty states. Today, it also stands at the center of a national conversation after becoming the first state in U.S. history to carry out an execution using nitrogen gas—a method that had never before been used anywhere in the world.

The decision has drawn international attention, praise from supporters who believe it provides justice for victims and their families, and criticism from opponents who question its legality, ethics, and humanity.

But beyond the headlines, many Alabamians know little about how the state’s death penalty system actually works—from the sentencing process and years of appeals to the final hours before an execution.

That is the focus of ABC 33/40’s four-part investigative series, where we take viewers inside every stage of Alabama’s capital punishment system.

Over the coming weeks, I will speak with prosecutors, defense attorneys, lawmakers, faith leaders, victims’ advocates, and people who have witnessed executions firsthand. Together, their perspectives will help explain not only how Alabama arrived at this historic moment but what it may mean for the future of capital punishment across America.

Rather than approaching the issue through politics alone, this series examines the people whose lives have been shaped by the death penalty—those seeking justice, those challenging the system, and those responsible for carrying out one of the government’s most consequential powers.

Part One: The Process

The opening installment explores how Alabama became the nation’s testing ground for nitrogen hypoxia executions.

We’ll trace the legal battles, policy decisions, and scientific questions that led to the state’s adoption of the new execution method while examining the broader evolution of capital punishment in Alabama. Viewers will gain a clearer understanding of how a death sentence moves through the courts, why executions can take decades to occur, and why Alabama has become one of the most closely watched states in the national death penalty debate.

The goal is not to persuade viewers toward one side of the issue. Instead, this project seeks to provide context, answer difficult questions, and offer a fact-based examination of a system that continues to shape lives, public policy, and the criminal justice system.

As Alabama continues to influence the national conversation surrounding capital punishment, this series will follow where that conversation leads.

Coming Next

In Part Two, we go inside Holman Correctional Facility through the eyes of a pastor who has spent years ministering to condemned inmates during their final hours. He shares what happens behind prison walls before an execution—offering prayer, comfort, and one last conversation with those preparing to die.

Join me, Ashonti Ford, as we explore how Alabama changed the landscape of the death penalty in America—and the questions that continue to define one of the nation’s most debated criminal justice issues.

This project is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

WASHINGTON — Voters in four of Alabama’s seven congressional districts will select U.S. House nominees Tuesday under a new map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts currently represented by Democrats.

Primaries for all seven congressional districts were originally scheduled for May 19, but Republican Gov. Kay Ivey postponed the contests for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that prompted a handful of Republican-controlled Southern states to throw out their congressional maps.

The court-inspired actions in Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee, as well as earlier legislative actions in other states to redraw their boundaries through mid-decade redistricting, were part of a nationwide Republican effort championed by President Donald Trump to maximize the party’s chances of holding its slim U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.

Alabama’s U.S. House members will continue to serve in their current districts until the end of 2026. Candidates in Tuesday’s primaries are running under the new Republican-backed boundaries, which go into effect in January 2027. Both of Alabama’s Democratic members of Congress are seeking reelection in their newly configured districts and are unopposed in their primaries.

In the 2nd District, where U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures is running for a second term, the Black population will go from half of the population under the current lines to about 40% under the new lines. In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump in the current district, 53% to 46%. But Trump would have beaten Harris 57% to 42% if the new boundaries had been in effect in 2024.

Six Republicans are running to challenge Figures in November, including state Rep. Rhett Marques, Army veteran Joshua McKee and real estate broker Hampton Harris. Trump has endorsed Marques, who is the field’s top fundraiser.

Black residents will maintain a slight majority in the new 7th District, where U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is running for a ninth term. Harris beat Trump, 61% to 38%, under the current boundaries and would have beaten him by slightly less, 58% to 41%, if the new boundaries had been in effect in 2024. Two Republicans, Ammie Akin and David Perry, are competing for the nomination to unseat Sewell.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. CT, which is 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts.

Who gets to vote?

The special primaries are open to any registered voters in their respective congressional districts. Although Alabama does not register voters by party, voters will be asked to declare a party preference upon selecting a party’s primary ballot.

How many voters are there?

As of June 1, there were 3.8 million registered voters in Alabama. Each congressional district in the state has a total population of about 718,000.

How many people actually vote?

About 409,000 ballots were cast across the state in the May 19 primaries, which was roughly 11% of registered voters. Past vote totals for the four new congressional districts are unavailable.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Relatively few Alabama voters cast their ballots before Election Day. The state is one of the only holdouts in the country not to offer some form of in-person early voting. In the 2024 primaries, about 4% of Democratic primary voters and about 1% of Republican primary voters voted by mail.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Vote release practices vary from county to county. Most counties tend to release results from absentee voting in the first vote update, sometimes along with results from in-person Election Day voting.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the May 19 state primary, the AP first reported results at 8:28 p.m. ET, or 28 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 12:54 a.m. ET, with more than 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

In 2010, the Alabama attorney general issued an opinion that Alabama’s automatic recount law does not apply to primaries. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 84 days until the 2026 midterm elections.