Voters across Alabama have four amendments to consider on Nov. 6, while Cullman County residents will also consider an additional measure of local interest.

The local amendment would official end the practice of the sheriff from collecting inmate meal money as personal income. The practice is allowed across the state, unless local voters in counties decide to change the system.

Sheriff Matt Gentry has publicly favored ending the practice in Cullman County. Approval of the amendment would send the money into a separate account that would only to feed inmates with the remainder going toward law enforcement needs.

The statewide amendments are based on a series of bills passed in the legislative session earlier this year. According to Ballotpedia, a non-partisan and non-profit organization that informs voters about political issues, the Alabama amendments will do the following, if approved:

Amendment 1 does two things. First, it provides that a person is free to worship God as he or she chooses, and that a person’s religious beliefs will have no effect on his or her civil or political rights. Second, it makes clear that the Ten Commandments may be displayed on public property so long as the display meets constitutional requirements, such as being displayed along with historical or educational items. Amendment 1 also provides that no public funds may be used to defend this amendment in court.

If a majority of voters vote “Yes” on Amendment 1, the state constitution will provide that a person is free to worship God as he or she chooses and that a person’s religious beliefs will have no effect on his or her civil or political rights. It will also provide that the Ten Commandments can be displayed on public property so long as the display meets constitutional requirements, such as being displayed along with historical or educational items.

Amendment 2 would amend the state constitution in order to do the following:

(a) declare that the state’s policy is to recognize and support “the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life,”

(b) “ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child in all manners and measures lawful and appropriate,” and

(c) state that “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”

The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling prohibits states from banning abortion prior to fetal viability—which means potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb. Rep. Matt Fridy (R-72), who sponsored this amendment in the legislature, said that its purpose was to ensure that nothing in the state constitution could be used to argue for a right to abortion in the event that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Status of abortions in Alabama:

Although Roe V. Wade prohibited banning abortion prior to fetal viability, the Supreme Court held that states can regulate and/or prohibit abortions once a fetus reaches the point of viability. Alabama is one of 43 states that ban abortion beginning at a certain stage of pregnancy. Alabama bans abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization. The average number of abortions per year from 2005 through 2015 was 9,784. The number of abortions in Alabama decreased each year from 11,654 in 2006 to 5,899 in 2015.

Amendment 3 would change the state constitution to make the following changes to the membership of the board of trustees of the University of Alabama:

remove the superintendent of education from the board;

establish that, for the purposes of districts for the board of trustees membership, the congressional districts in use as of January 1, 2018, would be used; and remove the constitutional provision establishing an age limit of 70 for members of the board.

The provision limiting the age of members of the board to 70 is currently not in effect The board of trustees voted to increase the age limit to 75 in 2017.

In 2016, voters approved a constitutional amendment to do away with any age limits for public officials, except judges, and prevent new age restrictions from being enacted.

How did this measure get on the ballot?

Amendment 3—Senate Bill 194 in the legislature—was sponsored in the Alabama Senate by Sen. J. T. Waggoner (R-16), Sen. Greg Reed (R-5), and Sen. Gerald Allen (R-21). It was approved by the Senate in a vote of 28 to zero on January 30, 2018.

On February 22, 2018, SB 194 was unanimously approved by the state House, with one member abstaining and one member not voting. Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-43)—the representative who did not cast a vote—officially stated that he had intended to cast a vote in favor of the amendment.

Amendment 4 would establish that if a vacancy in the state Senate or House occurred on or after October 1 of the year before the regular election, the vacancy would not be filled, and the seat would remain vacant until the regular election and that, if a vacancy occurred with a longer remaining term and there was only one uncontested candidate for the election to fill the vacancy, an election would not be held and the uncontested candidate would fill the vacancy.

What would the amendment change?

Currently, under the Alabama Constitution, whenever a vacancy occurs in either house, the governor would “issue a writ of election” to call for a special election to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. Under the amendment, vacancies in either house would remain vacant until the next general election if within the timeframe set out.