Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 17-1-3 (2026)
Chief Elections Officials.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
(a) The Secretary of State is the chief elections official in the state and shall provide uniform guidance for election activities. The Secretary of State is granted rule making authority for the implementation of Chapter 2 under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act.
(b) The judge of probate is the chief elections official of the county and shall serve as chair of the appointing board.
(Act 2003-313, p. 733, §1; §17-1-8; amended and renumbered by Act 2006-570, p. 1331, §2.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2014–2023 · leading case: Tuggle v. Ala. Sec'y of State John Merrill & Dir. of Elections Ed Packard) (Ex parte Merrill), 264 So. 3d 855 (Ala. 2018).
Tuggle v. Ala. Sec'y of State John Merrill & Dir. of Elections Ed Packard) (Ex parte Merrill), 264 So. 3d 855 (Ala. 2018). “See Ala. Code 1975, § 17-1-3 (providing that "[t]he Secretary of State is the chief elections official in the state and shall provide uniform guidance for election activities" and that "[t]he judge of probate is the chief elections official of the county").”
De La Fuente v. Merrill, 214 F. Supp. 3d 1241 (2016). “Probate judges are the “chief election official[s]” in their respective counties, see Ala. Code § 17-1-3 , and Defendant lacks legal authority to order these judges to print or not print their ballots in a certain way.”
Tuggle v. Ala. Sec'y of State John Merrill & Dir. of Elections Ed Packard) (Ex parte Merrill), 264 So. 3d 855 (Ala. 2018). “See Ala. Code 1975, § 17-1-3 (providing that "[t]he Secretary of State is the chief elections official in the state and shall provide uniform guidance for election activities" and that "[t]he judge of probate is the chief elections official of the county").”
McInnish v. Bennett, 150 So. 3d 1045 (Ala. 2014). “…of State at all times relevant to this action. . The probate judge is the chief elections official of a county. § 17-1-3, Ala.Code 1975.”
People First of Alabama v. Merrill (N.D. Ala. 2020). “§§ 17-1-3(b), 17-1-2(1), 17-8-1, 17- 11-11(a), serving on the canvassing board that tabulates absentee ballots, id.”
The Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind of Alabama v. Allen (N.D. Ala. 2023). “§ 17-1-3, and he oversees the implementation of the absentee voting program.”
— Ala. Code § 17-1-3(b) — 1 case
People First of Alabama v. Merrill (N.D. Ala. 2020). “§§ 17-1-3(b), 17-1-2(1), 17-8-1, 17- 11-11(a), serving on the canvassing board that tabulates absentee ballots, id.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.