CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County voters will help decide four statewide constitutional amendments and decide one local amendment in the Nov. 3 general election, with proposals affecting state government, public schools and property taxes for qualifying seniors.
The statewide questions address lieutenant governor vacancies, legislative pay and travel spending and mergers of neighboring county school systems. They also cover policies on the Pledge of Allegiance, student-led prayer and weekly presentation of the national anthem. Cullman County’s local question would allow qualifying homeowners 65 or older to freeze the assessed value of their residences for property tax purposes.
Statewide Amendment 1, proposed by Act 2026-341, combines changes to lieutenant governor vacancies, official pay and legislative travel spending into one question.
According to the Alabama Fair Ballot Commission, a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office generally remains unfilled until the next regular election for that office.
The ballot describes filling a vacancy during the first two years of a term.
The proposed change to Section 127(f) of the Constitution, contained in Senate Bill 271, applies when a vacancy occurs “more than 60 days before the next general election” at which state officers are elected.
Voters would choose a replacement at that general election to serve the remainder of the term.
The amendment would also authorize the Legislature to set the pay of the lieutenant governor and officers of the House and Senate by joint resolution.
It specifies no salary amount or automatic raise. Legislative travel expenditures would require approval by an officer elected by the members of the respective chamber.
A yes vote would approve those provisions together, while a no vote would retain the current constitutional rules.
Statewide Amendment 2, proposed by Act 2026-378, would establish a constitutional process for neighboring county school systems to combine under one multi-county board of education.
House Bill 380 requires participating boards to approve a plan addressing existing debts, governance and the merger timetable.
Before consolidation, the State Board of Education would study the effects on students, families, educational quality, staffing, facilities and transportation.
The full text also lists “finances and taxes, community identity, and governance” among the subjects the study must examine.
The study must be published on the State Department of Education’s website at least 30 calendar days before adoption of the formal resolution finalizing the merger.
A separate 30-day period after adoption would give voters time to submit written protests.
The amendment sets the protest threshold at “25 percent of the qualified electors” living within any affected school system.
The Fair Ballot Commission explains that reaching that threshold would require a referendum at the next regularly scheduled general election. The merger would need majority approval in each affected county and across the combined territory. Under the commission’s explanation, a separate public vote would depend on enough qualified voters submitting protests.
A yes vote would create that process for future merger proposals. It would not automatically combine Cullman City Schools and Cullman County Schools. A no vote would leave the Constitution without this proposed process.
Statewide Amendment 3, proposed by Act 2026-379, would require local school boards to adopt policies directing public K-12 schools to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each school day and allow student-initiated, student-led prayer.
House Bill 511 makes participation voluntary. It says the prayer must be initiated and led by a student and expressly limits what schools can require of other students.
“No student may be required to participate in a prayer,” the proposed amendment states.
Students would have the right to opt out of either the Pledge or prayer based on their beliefs. Reported violations would be reviewed by the local superintendent.
Alabama Code Section 16-43-5 already requires schools to conduct the Pledge at the beginning of each school day and protects students who decline to recite it from punishment.
A yes vote would place the Pledge and student-led prayer policy requirements in the Constitution. A no vote would leave the Constitution unchanged and would not repeal the existing Pledge law.
Statewide Amendment 4, proposed by Act 2026-424, would establish a weekly national anthem requirement in public K-12 schools. The proposed amendment directs schools to “broadcast The Star-Spangled Banner during school hours, at least once per week.”
Senate Bill 5 specifies the first stanza, or verse, and allows local boards to select a recording from the Library of Congress collection. As an alternative, a board could approve a performance by a band, choir, vocal group or vocalist using the archived original sheet music. The amendment does not direct every student to sing.
A legislative fiscal note identifies possible additional school-board administrative costs but provides no dollar estimate for those costs. The proposal sets no new tax.
A yes vote would add the weekly requirement to the Constitution, while a no vote would leave the Constitution unchanged.
The final question, Cullman County’s local amendment, proposed by Act 2026-141, would freeze qualifying seniors’ assessed property values. House Bill 436 says the exemption “shall freeze the assessed value of the property” at the prior year’s level.
Applicants must be at least 65 and own single-family owner-occupied residential property that has been their principal residence for at least five years immediately before the tax year when first claimed. The text includes no income limit.
Claims could begin Oct. 1, 2027, using the property’s value on Oct. 1, 2026. They must be submitted in writing to the Cullman County Revenue Commissioner between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
The freeze would continue while the property remains the owner’s principal residence, and other available exemptions could still be claimed.
The amendment says property would remain “subject to any millage rate changes.” Millage means the property tax rate. Those changes and later additions could still increase a tax bill despite the assessment freeze.
A yes vote would create the freeze for qualifying seniors. A no vote would retain existing property tax rules and exemptions.
Each amendment is a separate yes-or-no question. Voters can review the official sample ballot through the Cullman County Probate Office’s elections webpage before Election Day.
Homeowners seeking details about existing exemptions or the proposed senior assessment freeze can contact the Revenue Commissioner’s Office at 256-775-4776.
