Tuesday's runoff will affect several municipalities

On Tuesday, voters will be asked to go to the polls again, this time for the runoff election that affects several municipalities.

The largest races include mayoral runoffs in Sheffield and Tuscumbia, four council seats in Russellville, mayoral races in Anderson and Red Bay plus council races in St. Florian, Courtland and Sheffield.

It will be the fifth election in 2008 for Alabama, including the presidential primary (Feb. 5), primary (June 3), primary runoff (July 15) and municipal election (Aug. 26), according to the Alabama Secretary of State. The sixth and final election will be the general election Nov. 4.

This year, officials extended the three-week gap to six weeks between the Aug. 26 municipal election and the runoff election.

Perry Roquemore, executive director for the Alabama League of Municipalities, said the six-week time lag came from two sources. First, in the old system, officials certified election results the day after the election. In the new system, election results are certified one week after the election. Further, a federal mandate gives more time for absentee ballots from overseas military personnel.

Roquemore said he couldn't predict interest in the runoff because the election depends on individual races.

Across the Shoals, signs for several candidates dot the area, especially in Sheffield, where incumbent Mayor Billy Don Anderson and former Mayor Ian Sanford are running, and in Tuscumbia, where retired police chief Wayne Burns and incumbent Mayor Bill Shoemaker face each other.

Though the runoff will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, the runoff has been potentially overshadowed by the heated presidential election, midway through a debate series and weeks before the national election.

Teresa Stevenson, a registered voter in Tuscumbia, said she wasn't planning to vote in Tuesday's runoff election but will vote in the presidential election.

"That affects me more personally," Stevenson said. Because she works for the nonprofit Volunteers of America as a program director, Stevenson said that leadership at the federal level affects work funding, which affects her life.

"People don't really talk about (the runoff) much," said Jim Shepherd, a union electrician from Tuscumbia. "The longer they wait, the less interest there seems to be."

David Futrell, a registered voter in Sheffield said, "I haven't been keeping up with (the municipal election) because of all that's going on with the president."

Futrell said he didn't plan to vote Tuesday. "I don't know enough to make an unbiased decision," he said.

Margie Page, also a registered voter in Sheffield, said of the two mayoral candidates, "I don't know much about these people. I'm voting with the majority."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.