7 in 10 Alabama voters cast a straight-ticket ballot, unofficial totals show

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen released unofficial county-by-county straight-ticket voting totals Thursday for the November 3 general election.

Alabama voters cast 1,194,435 straight-ticket ballots, accounting for 70.5 percent of the 1,693,621 ballots cast statewide, according to the secretary of state’s office. Of those, 645,002 were Republican and 549,433 were Democratic, a split of 54 percent to 46 percent.

Republicans’ 95,569-ballot advantage in straight-ticket voting exceeded Republican Tommy Tuberville’s unofficial 66,308-vote margin over Democrat Doug Jones in the governor’s race. Unofficial results show Tuberville with 872,561 votes, or 51.79 percent, and Jones with 806,253 votes, or 47.86 percent.

Democratic straight-ticket ballots outnumbered Republican ones in 25 counties, including Jefferson, Madison, Mobile and Montgomery. Those four counties accounted for 440,450 straight-ticket ballots, about 37 percent of the statewide total.

Jefferson County recorded the most straight-ticket ballots of any county, with 122,664 for Democrats and 61,444 for Republicans. Democrats posted their second-largest margin in Montgomery County, where they led 46,262 to 13,124.

The margins were narrower in Madison, Mobile and Tuscaloosa counties. Democrats led 54,034 to 47,738 in Madison County, 49,236 to 45,948 in Mobile County and 24,850 to 22,033 in Tuscaloosa County.

Democrats also led in most Black Belt counties. About 87 percent of straight-ticket ballots in Bullock and Greene counties went to Democrats. The Democratic share exceeded 83 percent in Macon, Perry, Dallas and Sumter counties.

Republicans posted their largest margins in fast-growing suburban counties and across north Alabama. Their widest lead was in Baldwin County, where they led 47,419 to 15,339. Shelby County followed at 37,430 to 22,181, then Cullman at 17,078 to 2,457, St. Clair at 17,205 to 5,929 and Marshall at 14,314 to 3,751.

Republicans won their highest share of straight-ticket ballots in Cleburne County, at 89.5 percent. Winston County followed at 89.1 percent, Marion County at 87.6 percent and Cullman County at 87.4 percent.

Several counties were nearly evenly split. Democrats led 3,821 to 3,659 in Chambers County, 3,705 to 3,574 in Pike County and 2,565 to 2,369 in Butler County. Republicans led 9,898 to 9,177 in Talladega County.

All results remain unofficial until certification.