Alabamians Flock To Border States For Mega Millions

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Traffic on I-20 East between Birmingham and Tallapoosa, Georgia, was a little slower and heavier Tuesday afternoon. Often that is because of either road work or a traffic accident. However, there were 1.6 billion other reasons for the traffic on this particular day. The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $1.6 billion, and since Georgia has a lottery and Alabama does not, Alabamians seized the opportunity to head to the border to test their luck.

"I don't usually play the lottery," said Kevin Howard, who said he drove approximately 30 miles to the Georgia Welcome Center at the Alabama/Georgia border to buy lottery tickets. "But it gets this high, you would kick yourself if you didn't at least try."

Howard was purchasing a total of 42 tickets - for himself, friends and family - which came to $84. Another Alabama resident, Demetrius Reddon, drove from Tuscaloosa to purchase 100 tickets for the Mega Millions game. Unlike Howard, all of the tickets Reddon purchased were for himself.

"I know it's a long shot," Reddon said. "But a man can dream." Reddon said he makes it a point to purchase a lottery ticket if he is passing through a lottery state, but this was the first time he has made a special trip to do so.

That is not the case for Sherry Ford, who said she drives about 50 miles from her home in St. Clair County once a week to play the lottery. "This is as crowded as I have ever seen it," Ford said. "This is crazy."

Cars were lined up to get into one of the two gas stations off the Tallapoosa exit - and needed the aid of extra employees to direct traffic through the parking lots of the businesses. The line to get into the stores stretched beyond the front doors, and getting in and out of the parking lots for each store was not an easy or quick task.

The vast majority of cars that packed the parking lots of each establishment donned Alabama license plates. Since Alabama is one of only two states in the continental U.S. that has not approved a lottery, Alabama residents must travel to Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and - soon - Mississippi to purchase tickets.

Efforts to establish a state lottery in Alabama have usually been met with resistance in the past, with many Republicans opposing it on moral grounds, and Democrats opposing it because it is often viewed as a "tax on the poor." Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox is in favor of a lottery, and has researched and put together a plan for an education lottery in Alabama should he win the election in November.

Related Story: Walt Maddox Answers Questions On His Lottery Proposal

Governor Kay Ivey has said she is not opposed to allowing the voters in Alabama decide on a lottery in the state, but added that she does not see it as a pressing issue and therefore is not in any hurry to implement such a measure.

Continuing its record run, the $1.6 billion jackpot is the largest in U.S. history. The Mega Millions one-time cash payout is $904 million. The winning numbers will be drawn at 11 p.m. ET Tuesday. The numbers that come up most often are 2, 20, 11, 31 and 17. The most frequent Mega Ball number is 9, lottery officials say.

Photo by Michael Seale/Patch