Dallas County voters clearly didn’t want Local Amendment One to pass.

“I’m really pleased about that,” Probate Judge Johnny Jones said.

The amendment, Local Amendment One, was written by a group from Mobile, and sponsored by Representatives Yusef Salaam and James Thomas.

Salaam said the bill was written after African businessmen made a presentation to the Legislature’s Black Caucus.

However, Salaam said the ad valorem section was never mentioned and when he found out about it, he withdrew his support. Fellow Representative James Thomas did also, according to Salaam.

“We were not told that there would be some underlining language when I agreed to support the trade zone concept,” Salaam said.

The bill would allow African companies to set up a special trade zone in Dallas County, bypassing import taxes and duties on the articles, if approved by the Selma City Council.

The idea under the AGOA would be to aid developing countries in Africa establish a flourishing export trade.

Many local officials criticized the bill, including Salaam, saying it would decrease the city and the county’s tax base.

“Overall, it’s bad legislation. I would encourage the voters in my district to vote against it,” Salaam said before the election.

In total, the amendment was defeated by about 60 percent of Dallas County voters, 6,631 voted against it, and 4,989 voted for it.

Within the Selma city limits, voters narrowly defeated the measure, with 50.89 percent voting against it and 49.11 voting for it. Outside the city, 62.16 percent voted against it and 37.84 percent voted for it.

The election was marked by a high turnout overall, according to Jones.

Of the 31,934 registered voters in Dallas County, 18,546 came to the polls Tuesday, or 58.08 percent.

“Which is a very large turnout in this county,” Jones said. “I think it goes to show what interest the presidential race has generated here. Emotions ran high on this one, people were interested in it.”