This is an open primary. Voters may request a Democratic or Republican ballot, but not both.

Tuesday 13 March 2012: 63 of 69 delegates to the Democratic National Convention are pledged to presidential contenders based on the results of the voting in today's Alabama Presidential Primary. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at either the congressional district or statewide level.

• 41 district delegates are to be allocated proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the State's 7 congressional districts.
• CD 1: 5
• CD 2: 6
• CD 3: 6
• CD 4: 4
• CD 5: 6
• CD 6: 5
• CD 7: 9
• In addition, 22 delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide.
  • 14 at-large National Convention delegates
  • 8 Pledged PLEOs

Congressional District Delegate candidates appear on the ballot under each Presidential candidate's name and under Uncommitted. Voters will vote for a Presidential candidate and not more than four female and not more than four male delegate candidates committed to that candidate.

Here's how we compute the delegate count:

1. A candidate must receive 15% or more of the total popular vote to qualify for delegates. Discard votes cast for those candidates who do not meet the threshold.
2. Allocate Congressional District delegates from the qualified vote in each district. Allocate Pledged PLEO and At-Large delegates using the state-wide qualified vote.
3. In each jurisdiction (CD and statewide):
1. Total qualified vote = total votes cast for the qualifying candidates in the jurisdiction.
2. Allocation = (delegates for the jurisdiction) × (candidate's popular vote) ÷ (total qualified vote).
3. Assign each candidate the WHOLE NUMBER of delegates.
4. If delegates remain, allocate each of the remaining delegates to those candidates with the LARGEST REMAINDERS.

Saturday 14 April 2012: State Democratic Executive Committee Meeting.

National Convention district delegates are selected according to the results of the primary. The delegation is balanced by gender-- half male, half female. If a Presidential candidate failed to slate a sufficient number of delegate candidates, the State Party will conduct an election from among the candidate's supporters to fill said slots.

The State Democratic Executive Committee selects National Convention Pledged PLEO and At-Large delegates according to the results of the primary.

The remaining 6 National Convention delegates consist of

• 6 Unpledged PLEO delegates:
• 5 Democratic National Committee members.
• 1 Member of Congress (0 Senators and 1 Representative).
• 0 Governors.
• 0 Distinguished Party Leaders.

These 6 delegates and will go to the Democratic National Convention officially "Unpledged".

Notes:

On 1 March 2011, Representative Steve Clouse (Republican) and others sponsored HB 32. This bill would move the presidential preference primary from the 1st Tuesday in February to the 1st Tuesday in June. The Presidential and partisan primary would then be held concurrently on 5 June 2012.

On 9 June 2011, Governor Robert J. "Bob" Bentley (Republican) signed HB 425 (introduced 31 March 2011 by Representative Steve Clouse [Republican]). In Presidential election years, the law moves the Presidential preference primary (previously on the 1st Tuesday in February) and the regular partisan primary (previously on the 1st Tuesday in June) to the 2nd Tuesday in March. In non-Presidential election years, the regular partisan primary is held, as it was before, on the 1st Tuesday in June.