Section 17-5A-4

Voting districts; naming of precincts.

(a) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the counties in this state, as divided pursuant to this chapter into election precincts and the boundaries of such precincts shall so remain until changed by order of the county governing body, but the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year beginning in 1990, shall subdivide any election precinct in which there are more than 300 qualified voters and paper ballots are used or in which there are more than 600 qualified voters and voting machines are used into voting districts or shall divide alphabetically the list of qualified voters in such precincts into groups and assign each qualified voter a designated voting place and a designated box or voting machine in such precinct so as to provide a box for every person legally entitled to vote at which not more than 300 paper ballots will be cast or a machine at which not more than 600 votes by voting machines will be cast.

(b) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year beginning in 1990, shall in their respective counties examine the state voter registration list, and if it shall appear from such examination and from other available sources of information that there is, in any election precinct as constituted pursuant to this chapter in which paper ballots are used, more than 300 legal voters, or that there is, in any election precinct as constituted pursuant to this chapter in which voting machines are used, more than 600 legal voters, they shall immediately either divide the precinct into voting districts so that no one district shall contain over 300 legal voters where paper ballots are used or 600 legal voters where voting machines are used or establish two or more places or provide additional boxes or voting machines at established polling places in such precinct and shall separate the list of qualified registered voters in the precinct, as shown by the state voter registration list as reported for the county, into groups in alphabetical order so that no group in a precinct in which paper ballots are used shall contain more than 300 qualified registered voters or in a precinct where voting machines are used more than 600 qualified registered voters and shall designate the place and box or machine in the precinct at which each qualified voter shall cast his or her ballot.

(c) Whenever any election precinct has been subdivided into voting districts, pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) , the county governing body making the subdivision shall immediately cause a description of the boundaries of the voting districts to be filed in the office of the judge of probate and with the board of registrars and shall post a copy thereof at the county courthouse.

(d) The precincts shall be named and designated by the county governing body numerically or alphabetically or by a combination thereof in a manner that shall be uniform statewide as determined by the Association of County Commissions and approved by the reapportionment task force.

(Acts 1989, No. 89-952, p. 1874, §4; Act 2003-313, p. 733, §2.)