A hearing on Albert Turner Jr.’s challenge of his one-vote loss in the Perry County Commission District 1 Democratic primary has been rescheduled for June 15 at 11:00 a.m. in Montgomery, after the original hearing date was scrapped because the winner of the race had not been notified.
The hearing will take place at the Alabama Democratic Conference, 424 S. Decatur Street, before the State Democratic Executive Committee Contest Committee.
Donald J. Bennett, who defeated the longtime commissioner 398 to 397 in the May 19 primary, said he received official notification of the rescheduled hearing on June 4. Bennett had raised alarms days earlier when he learned from television news reports that an initial hearing had been set for June 5 without anyone from the state party contacting him.
He said he called the SDEC three times in a single morning and was told each time that the party was “checking into the validity of the hearing.”
“As the candidate whose election is at issue, I have a right to present my position in this matter,” Bennett said at the time.
Bennett said he will attend the June 15 hearing.
“I will be present at that hearing to present my position in full support of the certified results of the May 19, 2026, Democratic Primary election,” Bennett said in a statement posted to social media. “I remain confident in the integrity of the Perry County Democratic Executive Committee and the process by which the results were properly certified.”
Bennett also struck a diplomatic tone toward the body that will decide the matter.
“I extend my full respect to the State Democratic Executive Committee and trust that this body will exercise its authority with integrity and in strict accordance with the rules of law governing this process,” he said.
Turner, in a social media post announcing the rescheduled hearing, escalated his allegations significantly. He said his team is “prepared to demonstrate that the election night tabulation was intentionally reported inaccurately with malicious intent,” and claimed that “evidence indicates that the local Democratic Party Chairman was cognizant of the discrepancy in the absentee ballots report.”
The local party chairman is Probate Judge Carlton L. Hogue, who certified Bennett as the nominee on June 1 and issued a public statement calling Turner’s earlier allegations “false, misleading, and harmful.”
Turner continued to press his claim that an error in the absentee ballot count cost him the election. On his weekly radio show on WJUS on June 7, Turner said the circuit clerk had confirmed that a vote was missed in the absentee count, and that the official tally should have recorded 141 absentee ballots rather than 140.
He said the missing vote was his, which he argued would produce a tie at 398 votes each.
Turner has posted a photograph of a voting machine tape printout on social media on multiple occasions as evidence of the discrepancy. Someone has written “+1” in pen beside Turner’s vote total on the printout.
Turner says the notation reflects the result of a hand recount. Hogue’s public statement made no reference to any hand recount having taken place, and the Probate Judge’s office has said it does not have the authority to conduct a recount in a party primary.
Turner also repeated his claim that video evidence showed a provisional ballot voter was not a resident of District 1, and that this ballot should be invalidated.
He said the matter “is not about sour grapes, but a stolen election.”
“Commissioner Turner has made public statements that appear designed to cast doubt on the integrity of the election process after the results did not favor him,” Hogue said. “These claims are not only false and misleading, but also dangerous, as they undermine public trust in election workers, lawful election procedures, and the will of voters in Perry County.”
“The public needs to understand that disappointment in an election result does not create evidence of wrongdoing,” Hogue continued. “Losing a close race does not give any candidate the right to attack the integrity of the election process, election officials, poll workers, provisional ballot procedures, or the voters of Perry County without facts.”
The central question before the state party appears to be whether Turner filed his contest in time.
Under Alabama Code Section 17-13-80, a contest of a primary nomination for county office must be filed with the chair of the county executive committee within 24 hours of the canvass.
Hogue has said the canvassing board signed the official results at 1:30 p.m. on May 26, putting the deadline at 1:30 p.m. on May 27. Turner’s contest letter to the executive committee was dated May 29.
Turner has argued that his recount request, submitted to the Probate Judge’s office on May 26, tolled the 24-hour contest deadline until the recount could be completed.
Hogue has said no such tolling provision exists in Alabama law and that the recount request was directed to the wrong office in the first place.
Bennett, in a series of statements posted to social media in the days following the canvass, said repeatedly that he had received no notification from any authorized election official about a recount or the processing of additional ballots.
On the evening of May 30, he said he remained “confident in the integrity of the process” and would “continue to monitor developments through proper channels.”
The following morning, in what appeared to be a direct response to Turner’s social media activity, Bennett sharpened his tone.
“Creating a public spectacle is beneath the dignity of elected office,” he said. “Our community has worked too hard and come too far to allow the democratic process to be undermined by noise, misinformation, or personal grievance.”
“There are rules, timelines, and laws that govern our voting process,” Bennett continued. “They exist not to serve any one individual, but to protect every voter.”
Under Alabama Code Section 17-13-82, either party to a primary contest has the right of appeal to the state executive committee from the decision of the county executive committee.
The state committee is designated under Section 17-13-87 as “the court of final appeal in all party contests of nominations.” If the state committee determines that it cannot decide who the legal nominee is, it has the authority to order a new primary election.
The central question before the state party is whether Turner’s tolling argument holds and the contest was timely filed, or whether the deadline passed on May 27 and the county party’s certification of Bennett stands.
If the state party’s contest committee upholds the county party’s certification, Bennett will be the Democratic nominee and, with no Republican in the race, will take the District 1 seat in November, ending Turner’s tenure of more than a quarter century.
If the committee finds that Turner’s contest was timely and that irregularities affected the outcome, it could overturn the result or, under Alabama Code Section 17-13-87, order a new primary election.
The hearing is set for Monday, June 15, at 11:00 a.m.
