Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 17-12-7 (2026)
Preservation of Ballots by Sheriff.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
When no federal elections are on the ballot, the sheriff shall keep the ballots six months in the voted ballot box, without opening or unsealing the voted ballot box, and thereafter destroy the ballots unless within six months the sheriff having them in custody is notified that the election of some officer for which the election was held will be contested, in which case the sheriff must preserve the box containing the ballots cast for such contestant until such contest is finally determined or until such box is demanded by some legally constituted custodian during such contest.
(Code 1907, §417; Code 1923, §507; Code 1940, T. 17, §196; §17-13-5; amended and renumbered by Act 2006-570, p. 1331, §56.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1
case, 2014–2014 · leading case: Davis v. Bennett, 154 So. 3d 114 (Ala. 2014).
Davis v. Bennett, 154 So. 3d 114 (Ala. 2014). “Former § 17-12-7 provided that any “inspector of election” who receives a vote from a challenged voter without requiring the sworn oath as to the person’s address and related information was guilty of a misdemeanor.”
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