The big question in Alabama today is one that probably should have been answered a little sooner: Who is eligible to vote in Alabama? The state can block people from voting if they’ve committed crimes of “moral turpitude,” but the problem is that moral turpitude isn’t defined very well. According to this in-depth Birmingham News article, The office of Attorney General Troy King has a list of 400 (that’s a 4, with two zeros after it, though this article says exactly 444) crimes that, in his interpretation, qualify for the ‘moral turpitude’ exclusion. According to the Montgomery Advertiser article on the issue, some of the crimes that make the list include drug use and shoplifting, and even “conspiring to set an illegal brush fire.”\
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Alabama’s Administrative Office of Courts says they thought a shorter list of only 70 crimes was being used to strike voters, but the Birmingham News article says they thought wrong:\

AOC Legal Director Griffin Sikes Jr. said the governor had no legal authority to classify so many crimes as crimes of moral turpitude. Sikes said that, for months, the governor’s office had assured the AOC that only the shorter list was being used, but Sikes found out last month those assurances were given “in error.”

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This would be a fine debate to have oh, say, 6 months from the election, but we’re 29 days from voting on new Senators, Representatives, and other offices.\
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Electronic bingo pops up again, this time in Mobile, as does the referendum on what Alabama should do with its rainy-day fund.\
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An opinion on Trinity Hospital’s decision to abandon Irondale and move into the former (or would-have-been former) HealthSouth “digital hospital” property discusses the ramifications of the move, as they apply to regional cooperation.\
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The Mobile Press-Register details Artur Davis’ regret about not heeding warnings about problems with Fannie May and Freddie Mac.\
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In other news, Thomason Tracts finds low attendance at Talladega to be somewhat ironic, and Wade Kwon waits for the bus (probably for the same reason).\
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Update: The JeffCo County Commission Environmental Services committee makes a move towards bankruptcy, and Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Wachovia fight it out.