Hale County voters go to the polls Tuesday, Aug. 11, to settle the Republican primary for the 7th Congressional District, the do-over election ordered after the results of the May 19 congressional primaries were voided.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling places are unchanged, and voters must present a valid photo ID.
Two Republicans, Ammie Akin and David Perry, are on the ballot for the 7th District nomination, and it is the only race before Hale County voters. On the Democratic side, incumbent U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell was the only candidate to qualify, so she faces no primary and does not appear on a ballot Tuesday.
Alabama voters do not register by party, and the ballot a voter chose in May carries no restriction now, so voters who cast Democratic ballots in the spring are free to vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Akin, 44, of Birmingham, is a former educator and cofounder of the nonprofit Hub in the Hills. She holds a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and a doctorate from Samford University. She has not run for office before, and told the Alabama Reflector that education, affordability and crime are her three priorities.
Perry, 63, of Selma, is a retired pastor and was the Republican nominee for State Board of Education District 5 in 2024. He told the Reflector he is running because the district ranks poorly on poverty, crime and economic growth, and said a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats could flip the seat.
The winner faces Sewell in the November general election. Sewell, of Selma, is seeking a ninth term. No Republican has held the seat since James Martin left it in 1966, and Sewell has taken more than 60 percent of the vote in every contested general election since she was first elected in 2010.
Tuesday’s vote is the product of a court fight over Alabama’s congressional map.
The May 19 primary results for U.S. House Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 were voided after the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais raised the standard for challenging district maps as racially discriminatory. The Legislature met in special session, and the court in May lifted a lower-court order that had blocked the state from using a 2023 map a federal court had previously found to be a racial gerrymander. Gov. Kay Ivey then set the replacement primaries for Aug. 11.
Time is short for absentee voting. The mail deadline for absentee ballot applications has passed, but applications can still be made in person at the office of the circuit clerk, who serves as absentee election manager, through the close of business Thursday, Aug. 6. Completed absentee ballots must be hand-delivered by the close of business Monday, Aug. 10, or arrive by mail no later than noon Tuesday, Aug. 11.
The registration deadline for this election has passed. Voters can confirm their registration status and polling place at myinfo.alabamavotes.gov.
