Crucial Date Change Proposed For Tuscaloosa's Next Municipal Election

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The City of Tuscaloosa's next municipal election in 2025 could see a crucial change in date, if a push by one council member is successful.

The Tuscaloosa City Council last Tuesday unanimously approved the city's legislative agenda for the upcoming 2022 Alabama Legislative Session, which begins in January and included one component that, if passed by the Legislature, would move the election date from March 2025 to May 20, 2025.

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Indifference to the proposed change in date was the prevailing sentiment among council members, with more time spent discussing the mild spring weather that could be expected on the campaign trail, as opposed to implications for registered voters within the city limits.

The measure is the brainchild of District 4 Councilman Lee Busby — a lifelong Tuscaloosa resident whose district includes the University of Alabama and its large population of on-campus residents who contribute to the city's sale tax revenue and are eligible to vote in the city's municipal elections.

District 4 has been a longstanding hotbed for the political tug-of-war between traditional or "permanent" Tuscaloosa residents with political ambitions and younger candidates largely backed by UA students and the not-so-secret Greek shadow society known as "The Machine."

Busby, who has served on the Council since winning a special election in 2019, said during the meeting that the proposal is aimed primarily at addressing a "problem with votes that can't be legally sustained." He then expressed the hope that it will help the city avoid costly election challenges where temporary, part-time voters — I.E., UA students — have mobilized but can't survive an expensive legal battle.

Simply put, the election date would fall after the end of the spring 2025 semester, with finals week typically scheduled for the first week of May, thus resulting in much fewer UA students around to cast ballots if the date change is approved by the legislature.

"The timing was the third week in May, is designed to acknowledge the period where most of the part-time, temporary folks are out of town but the full-time permanent residents with kids in school are not out of school or gone on vacation," he said.

District 1 Councilman Matthew Wilson was the only elected official to openly question the decision. While he stopped short of voicing any opposition, he did say he wanted to "weigh the pros and cons" of it all.

Area policymakers last considered large-scale changes to municipal elections in 2015, on the heels of another court battle over the District 4 seat on the city school board. As one lawmaker described that legislation, it was designed to reduce confusion about residency requirements — a move viewed as favorable to voters on the UA campus.

Tuscaloosa's legislative delegation — consisting of 10 policymakers, five of whom are not residents of Tuscaloosa County — will now take on the city's approved legislative agenda when the session convenes early next month, with the next steps being the drafting of specific bills for the necessary pieces of legislation.

“Our ability to make a difference can either be enhanced or limited by the Alabama Legislature, which is why we annually outline our priorities to our state leaders," Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox told Patch in a statement last week regarding the Council's passage of the 2022 Legislative Agenda. "Even more importantly, we have a positive and constructive relationship with our delegation and are able to work together to strengthen Tuscaloosa.”

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