Deadline nearing for candidate qualifying

Published 8:01 pm Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Editor’s note: This article has been amended from a previous version to include the  qualification status of three candidates.

With the qualifying deadline quickly approaching, five candidates have qualified for positions in Dallas County’s 2014 elections.

Positions up for election include sheriff, tax collector, tax assessor, coroner, Dallas County Democratic Executive Committee delegate, Alabama Senate District 23 and Alabama House District 67.

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Most of the candidates who have officially qualified are incumbents seeking re-election, according to Dallas County Democratic and Republican chairmen. All current qualified candidates are Democrats. Qualifiers include: Coroner William Alan Daily, Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman, Dallas County Tax Assessor Weida Sheehan, State Rep. Darrio Melton (D-Selma), State Sen. Hank Sanders (D-Selma) and Dallas County Tax Collector Tammy King.

Franklin Fortier and Robert Green are the only candidates who are not currently incumbents in the position they are seeking. Fortier is running for tax assessor. Green is running for Alabama Senate District 23.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. on Friday to qualify through the Alabama Secretary of State’s office for the statewide primary election. The statewide primary is June 3, 2014. If necessary, a statewide primary runoff will be July 15.

Dallas County Democratic Chair Ozetta Thomas recommended interested candidates not wait until the last minute.

“We don’t want a large group of people coming in at the last minute to register,” Thomas said. “The deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday and we don’t want to have someone stay after 5 p.m. to finish up forms.”

Candidates running as independents are not required to register by Friday, as they do not compete in the primaries. Instead, candidates running independent of a party are required to present a petition with signatures of 3 percent or more of the voters in the voting precinct in the last gubernatorial election, according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office.