Most Limestone County voters will have a very simple choice to make in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate election — Republican Roy Moore or Democrat Doug Jones.

Some voters in southwestern parts of the county, however, will be voting in two elections. Not only will they cast a ballot for the next senator, they will also pick a candidate in the special Republican primary for State House District 4.

Those candidates are Tom Fredricks of Hartselle, Parker Moore of Decatur and Tom Wilson of Decatur.

The primary was necessitated by former State House Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, pleading guilty to a mail fraud scheme, thereby forcing his automatic ouster from the Legislature.

Because the Senate election is a statewide election, the three Republican candidates vying for the House seat are not included on ballots being distributed in State House District 4. There will be two separate lines at affected polling places — one for the Senate election, another for the District 4 primary.

The five Limestone County precincts where the primary will be held are:

• Westside Community Center, 21619 Alabama 99, Athens;

• Round Island Baptist Church, 14790 Brownsferry Road, Athens;

• Belmor Baptist Church, 5895 Mooresville Road, Mooresville;

• Lamb of God Lutheran Church, 11716 County Line Road, Madison; and

• Tanner Baptist Church, 11590 U.S. 31, Tanner.

County Elections Supervisor Bobbi Bailey said not all voters who cast ballots at those locations will be eligible to vote in the primary. The Limestone County Probate Office will provide maps to each polling place that will show if a voter lives within State House District 4.

That map can also be viewed on votelimestone.com under the “Election Results & Map” button.

Having a primary in addition to the statewide Senate election resulted in a few extra challenges for the Probate Judge’s Office. More poll workers had to be hired, which costs more money.

County poll workers receive $100 on election day, while inspectors receive $155. The state of Alabama reimburses $75 on each poll worker and $100 on each inspector. Limestone County also gives poll workers and inspectors an extra $25 to offset time spent training for election day.

Healthy turnout predicted

As of Friday, 574 absentee ballots had been received. That number led Probate Judge Charles Woodroof to believe Tuesday’s turnout could be as high as 30 percent.

By comparison, there were 99 absentee ballots cast in the Aug. 15 special U.S. Senate primary and 112 cast in the Sept. 12 primary runoff election.

There are now 59,342 registered voters in Limestone County. That number has grown by almost 1,100 voters since the Aug. 15 Senate primary.

About 15.4 percent of the county’s total voters will be eligible to vote in the House District 4 election.

Election day information

Here are some tips to keep in mind on election day:

• Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.;

• A photo ID will be required to obtain a ballot.

Write-in candidates

Want to cast a write-in vote on Dec. 12 for a candidate not listed on the ballot? Write in his or her name in the blank write-in box at top of the ballot. It is immediately under the boxes for Doug Jones and Roy Moore.

For your vote to count:

• You must shade in the circle next to left of the “write-in” box;

• The name of your candidate needs to be spelled correctly. Minor misspellings won’t disqualify the vote, but it has to be close enough that the full last name is understandable;

• Do not use stamps or stickers; votes must be handwritten; and

• It must be a living person who is qualified to hold office. However, Alabama’s “sore loser” law prohibits a candidate that lost in the primary from running as an independent, which would provide for their name being printed on the ballot. There’s nothing to keep any qualified candidate from running a write-in campaign or someone casting their ballot for whomever they choose.

Are write-in votes counted?

Alabama law stipulates that write-in votes for a particular contest are not counted unless the total number of write-in votes is greater than the difference in the number of votes received by the first place and second place candidates. If that takes place, write-in votes are counted on the seventh day after the election. If the number of write-ins doesn’t meet that requirement, they are not counted.

The only other way write-in votes would be counted is if a voter makes a written request by 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, and posts a bond or certified check to cover the cost of counting the write-in votes.

Write-in votes would be counted by the county’s canvasing board, which includes Woodroof, Sheriff Mike Blakely and Circuit Clerk Brad Curnutt. The board may recruit as many people as necessary to assist in counting the votes.

Election results

Real-time results of the U.S. Senate race will be streamed live at votelimestone.com. The News Courier will also post results as they come in at enewscourier.com. Results from the House District 4 race will be posted at both websites as they become available.