Opinion ID: 1662010
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: absentee voters

Text: Election officials rejected several absentee ballots cast in the November 3, 1992, election, because of deficiencies in the affidavits required to be filed by those absentee voters. Williams argued to the trial court that 13 absentee ballots were erroneously rejected by election officials. In reviewing those absentee ballots and accompanying affidavits, the trial court stated that it was adhering to the factors adopted by this Court in Wells v. Ellis, 551 So.2d 382 (Ala.1989), for determining whether an absentee vote complies with Ala.Code 1975, § 17-10-1 et seq. (the statutory authority for absentee voting, which sets forth the manner for such voting). Those factors are: (a) that the voter was not guilty of fraud, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing; (b) that the voter substantially complied with the essential requirements of the absentee voting law; and (c) that any irregularities in the vote do not adversely affect the sanctity of the ballot and the integrity of the election. 551 So.2d at 384 (quoting Bolden v. Potter, 452 So.2d 564, 566 (Fla.1984), and citing Boardman v. Esteva, 323 So.2d 259, 263 (Fla. 1975)). Ala.Code 1975, § 17-10-7, provides that an affidavit must accompany the ballot of each absentee voter, and it sets forth the form for that affidavit. Although Wells stands for the proposition that an absentee voter's affidavit need not be identical to the form contained in § 17-10-7, under Wells the affidavit must comply substantially with § 17-10-7 and its irregularities must not adversely affect the sanctity of the ballot and the integrity of the election. To fulfill these requirements from Wells, the trial court admitted into evidence only those absentee ballots that were accompanied by an affidavit containing the voter's (1) place of residence, (2) reason for voting absentee, and (3) signature. However, if an absentee voter's affidavit lacked any of those three elements, the trial court permitted the voter to testify at trial to supply the missing elements. After reviewing the 13 absentee voters' affidavits submitted by Williams, the trial court admitted seven into evidence based solely upon its findings that those affidavits met the court's three-element test devised for testing the Wells factors. Thereafter, Williams presented testimony from four of the six voters whose affidavits were lacking certain elements. The trial court admitted all four of those voters' affidavits into evidence. In its final order, the trial court stated that 9 additional votes, cast absentee, should be counted for Williams. The court rejected two of the 11 ballots admitted into evidence, stating that one voter did not make application for an absentee ballot and ... someone else voted for her; [and] [t]he other voter, according to her testimony, simply laid her ballot down and did not seal it in the envelope to protect its integrity. Williams argues that the trial court erred in rejecting two votes from among the 11 absentee ballots and accompanying affidavits in evidence. In reviewing the trial court's findings as to this issue, we are bound by the ore tenus rule. Mitchell, 242 Ala. at 200, 5 So.2d at 797. The evidence in the record supports the trial court's finding that two absentee votes were due to be rejected for the reasons given by the trial court in its final order. Williams also argues that the trial court acted improperly in refusing to admit into evidence the affidavits of two absentee voters that contained no address. Those were the two voters who did not testify at trial. Essentially, Williams argues that the trial court should not have reduced Wells to a three-element test, because, in doing so, Williams says, it failed to consider the individual circumstances of each voter. Williams contends that the place-of-residence element, deemed necessary by the trial court, was unnecessary because, he says, to obtain an absentee ballot the voter must establish his place of residence. After reviewing the absentee affidavits presented by Williams, we conclude that the three-element test devised by the trial court was the most lenient test it could have used, under the circumstances, to determine whether affidavits were in substantial compliance with § 17-10-7 and whether any irregularities in them would adversely affect the sanctity of the ballot [or] the integrity of the election. By allowing Williams to present testimony from absentee voters whose affidavits lacked the three elements deemed necessary, the trial court went a step further than it had to. Had the trial court been any more lenient, it would have effectively abolished § 17-10-7 and, necessarily, would have compromised the integrity of the election process. Accordingly, the trial court acted properly in refusing to admit into evidence absentee ballots lacking an address. At trial, Lide did not argue that election officials had erroneously rejected any absentee votes in his favor. He did, however, contest the legality of two absentee votes. Election officials counted those two votes for Williams; however, at trial, both of the voters testified that a man came to their home prior to the November election and told them that he would assist them in voting by absentee ballot. The voters testified that they gave the man their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. They further testified that the man told them that they would receive absentee ballots in the mail; however, they said, they never received or cast any absentee ballots and never told the man for whom they intended to vote. When shown affidavits allegedly signed by them, they testified that the signatures thereon were not theirs. The trial court found that the two voters did not vote their absentee ballots; accordingly, it deleted two absentee votes from Williams's total. Although Williams argues that the trial court's finding was erroneous, that finding is supported by the evidence.