A little more than 17 percent—5.605—of the 32,525 registered voters in Coffee County went to the polls or voted absentee ballots in the special primary election for United States Senator held Aug.15.
The voter turnout statewide was 17.95 percent.
When the votes were counted, Coffee County Democrats chose Doug Jones, who garnered 516 or 67.63 percent of the Democrat ballots cast. The next highest Democrat contender was Robert Kennedy Jr. with 118 or 15.47 percent of the votes cast.
In the Republican Party, 2,538 or 52.44 percent of the voters chose Roy S. Moore. Incumbent Sen. Luther Strange garnered 1,213 or 25.06 percent of the Coffee County Republican Party votes.
Gov. Kay Ivey called the special primary election as one of her first orders of business after assuming the top state slot when then-Gov. Robert Bentley resigned April 10.
When United States President Donald Trump appointed then-Alabama State Senator Jeff Sessions to a national post, Bentley appointed then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to temporarily fill the senate seat vacated by Sessions until a special election could be called in 2018.
Ivey called for the primary election a year early citing her belief that the citizens should have had a voice in that selection.
In May, Ivey signed a law that prevents crossover voting in the state. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Whatley, bans voters from casting a ballot for one party in a primary and then crossing over to vote in another party's runoff elections. So, the Aug. 15 election was the first election in which
the party in which a person voted in the primary determines in which in party they can vote in the Sept. 26 runoff
Those who did not vote in a primary election may choose either a Democrat or Republican ballot in the run off election.
There is no runoff in the Democrat Party because Jones was the clear winner and will face whoever wins the Republican runoff.
Republican voters will go to the polls Sept. 26 because statewide there is a runoff election between Moore and Strange.
Statewide Moore earned 164,524 or 38.9 percent of the votes. Strange earned 138,971 or 32.8 percent of the votes.
“The cross over rule starts over with each election cycle and only applies to primary and primary run-off elections,” Coffee County Chief Probate Clerk Susan Carmichael explained. “It does not apply to a general election.”
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