Alabama ballot measure · November 3, 2026
Alabama Statewide Amendment 1, explained
Lieutenant governor vacancies and pay of the lieutenant governor and legislative officers. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wording
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, to provide for the election of a Lieutenant Governor if the Office of Lieutenant Governor becomes vacant during the first two years of a term, to authorize the Legislature to set the salary of the Lieutenant Governor and officers of the Legislature, and to require any expenditure of legislative funds for travel to be approved by a legislative officer. (Proposed by Act 2026-341)
This is what appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
What it actually means
Alabama's constitution says what happens when the governor's office goes empty, but not when only the lieutenant governor's does — that seat simply stays vacant for the rest of the term. This amendment would let voters fill it at the next general election if the vacancy happens early enough in the term. It also moves the pay of the lieutenant governor and of the officers of the House and Senate out of the constitution and into a joint resolution of the Legislature, and requires an elected chamber officer to sign off on legislative travel spending.
If you vote YES
- If the lieutenant governor's office becomes vacant more than 60 days before the next general election at which state officers are elected, a lieutenant governor would be elected at that election to serve the rest of the unexpired term.
- The lieutenant governor and the officers of both houses of the Legislature would be paid an amount set by joint resolution of the Legislature, rather than an amount fixed by the constitution.
- Any spending of funds appropriated for legislators' travel would have to be approved by an officer of that chamber elected by its full membership.
- Section 127 would also be rewritten in plainer language, describing succession when the governor's office is vacant or the governor is incapacitated, absent from the state, or fails to qualify.
If you vote NO
- A vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office alone would continue to go unfilled for the remainder of the term. After Gov. Robert Bentley resigned in 2017 and Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey became governor, the lieutenant governor's chair stayed empty until 2019, with the Senate president pro tempore presiding over the Senate.
- An election to fill both offices mid-term would still be triggered only when the governor and the lieutenant governor are both removed, die or resign more than 60 days before the next general election.
- Legislators' compensation would stay tied to the state's median annual household income under Section 49, and the lieutenant governor's salary would stay equal to the speaker of the house's under Section 118.
- There would be no constitutional requirement that a chamber officer approve legislative travel spending.
Why supporters say YES
We found none published in the sources reviewed.
Why opponents say NO
We found none published in the sources reviewed.
What’s genuinely uncertain
- No organised campaign exists on either side. Ballotpedia has identified no committee registered to support or oppose the amendment, and the underlying bill, SB 271, passed both chambers unanimously. Because no named argument against it could be found, no case for it is presented here either, rather than showing one column and not the other.
- The amendment's sponsor, Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville), told the Alabama Reflector he proposed it after questions arose about what would happen if the office became vacant early in a term, and described it as "kind of a Band-Aid approach" he may revisit later.
- The ballot language says the Legislature could set the salary of "officers of the Legislature"; the text of the act specifies the officers of both houses, not rank-and-file members.
The bottom line
Letting voters fill a mid-term vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office, and moving that office's pay and legislative officers' pay from the constitution to a legislative resolution, against leaving both settled as the constitution now fixes them.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Checking it against the official text
The Alabama Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Alabama Secretary of State.
Other measures on the Alabama ballot
Candidates on the same ballot
- U.S. Senate election in Alabama
- Alabama governor's race
- Alabama's 1st congressional district
- Alabama's 2nd congressional district
- Alabama's 3rd congressional district
- Alabama's 4th congressional district
- Alabama's 5th congressional district
- Alabama's 6th congressional district