(a) The following persons shall be entitled to have their names printed on the appropriate ballot for the general election, provided they are otherwise qualified for the office they seek:

Terms Used In Alabama Code 17-9-3

  • Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
  • circuit: means judicial circuit. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • preceding: means next before. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • writing: includes typewriting and printing on paper. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) All candidates who have been put in nomination by primary election and certified in writing by the chair and secretary of the canvassing board of the party holding the primary and filed with the judge of probate of the county, in the case of a candidate for county office, and the Secretary of State in all other cases, on the day next following the last day for contesting the primary election for that office if no contest is filed. If a contest is filed, then the certificate for the contested office must be filed on the day next following the date of settlement or decision of the contest.
(2) All candidates who have been put in nomination by any caucus, convention, mass meeting, or other assembly of any political party or faction and certified in writing by the chair and secretary of the nominating caucus, convention, mass meeting, or assembly and filed with the judge of probate, in the case of a candidate for county office, and the Secretary of State in all other cases, on or before 5:00 P.M. on the date of the first primary election as provided for in Section 17-13-3.
(3) Each candidate who has been requested to be an independent candidate for a specified office by written petition signed by electors qualified to vote in the election to fill the office when the petition has been filed with the judge of probate, in the case of a county office and with the Secretary of State in all other cases, on or before 5:00 P.M. on the date of the first primary election as provided for in Section 17-13-3. The number of qualified electors signing the petition shall equal or exceed three percent of the qualified electors who cast ballots for the office of Governor in the last general election for the state, county, district, or other political subdivision in which the candidate seeks to qualify.
(b) The Secretary of State, not later than 74 days before the general election, shall certify to the judge of probate of each county in the state, in the case of an officer to be voted for by the electors of the whole state, and to the judges of probate of the counties composing the circuit or district in the case of an officer to be voted for by the electors of a circuit or district, upon suitable blanks to be prepared by him or her for that purpose, the fact of nomination or independent candidacy of each nominee or independent candidate or candidate of a party who did not receive more than 20 percent of the entire vote cast in the last general election preceding the primary who has qualified to appear on the general election ballot. The judge of probate shall then prepare the ballot with the names of each candidate qualified under the provisions of this section printed on the ballot. The judge of probate may not print on the ballot the name of any independent candidate who was a candidate in the primary election of that year and the name of any nominee of a political party who was a candidate for the nomination of a different political party in the primary election of that year.