Cleveland, Alabama Public Records

Residents can register to vote online through the Alabama Secretary of State's website at https://www.alabamainteractive.org/sos/voter_registration/voterRegistration.action, which provides a secure online system. Applicants must have an Alabama driver's license or non-driver ID issued by ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency). The state's voter registration deadline is 15 days before any election. Registration is also available in person at the Probate Judge's Office or at various state agencies including driver's license offices. When casting ballots, Alabama requires voters to provide identification such as a valid Alabama driver's license, Alabama photo voter ID, U.S. Passport, employee ID from federal, state, county, or municipal government, student or employee ID from an Alabama public college or university, or military ID. Because Cleveland is an unincorporated community without its own municipal government, there are no local elections for mayor, city council, or town-specific offices. Instead, residents vote in county-wide elections for Blount County Commission seats, countywide constitutional offices including probate judge, sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner, state legislative races for the Alabama House and Senate districts covering their area, statewide offices such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General, and federal races for U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and President. Voters are assigned to specific polling places based on their precinct, with assigned locations available through the Alabama Secretary of State's polling place lookup tool at https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview, which requires entering name and date of birth. Publicly accessible election records in Alabama include voter registration lists, available for purchase or inspection for legitimate purposes under Alabama Code § 17-4-2, campaign finance reports filed by candidates and political committees searchable through the Alabama Secretary of State's database at www.sos.alabama.gov, candidate qualifying information and official candidate lists, and precinct-level election results. The Probate Judge's Office publishes Blount County election results after each election for public inspection. State constitutional offices including Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, and Public Service Commission seats will appear on the ballot. Local voters will also elect their representatives to the Alabama Legislature, including State House and State Senate district representatives, with specific districts depending on redistricting. While no U.S. Representative for the congressional district covering Blount County. County offices up for election include Blount County Commission seats, Sheriff, Probate Judge, Revenue Commissioner, and other positions depending on term schedules. Specific information about candidates, ballot measures, and local races will become available as the election approaches through the Probate Judge's Office and the Alabama Secretary of State's website. Absentee voting in Alabama is available to voters meeting specific criteria outlined in Alabama Code § 17-11-3, including those who will be absent from the county on election day, those who are ill or have a physical disability, those working a required shift that prevents voting, students and military personnel, and appointees of election officials. Absentee ballot applications must be submitted to the Blount County Absentee Election Manager at the Probate Judge's Office (220 2nd Avenue East, Oneonta, AL 35121). Applications can be downloaded from the Alabama Secretary of State's website or requested from the Blount County office. Absentee ballots must be requested by the Thursday before the election for in-person absentee voting or earlier for mail delivery. Voted absentee ballots must be returned by the close of polls on election day. Alabama does not have universal mail-in voting or no-excuse absentee voting; voters must qualify under one of the statutory reasons to vote absentee.