The Butler County Republican Party has announced that it will open qualifying for the 2016 elections on Monday.

Qualifying will end at the close of business on Nov. 6.

“The primaries are early this election cycle,” said Cleve Poole, local GOP chairman.

“The state wanted to be in the early grouping of southern states so that our votes will be more critical in the presidential election, so the legislature voted to have our primary on March 1, when Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia are all having their primaries.  This plan seems to have worked fairly well as several presidential candidates have visited Alabama already, with more scheduled to make stops in Alabama in the coming weeks.”

The elections this cycle on a local level will include all members of the Butler County Commission, the circuit clerk and the district attorney.  Other races on the ballot will be for delegates to the national GOP convention to elect the presidential candidate, three associate justices on the Alabama Supreme Court, and the state Public Service Commission president.

“We anticipate a lot of excitement in this year’s election,” said Poole.

“The presidential race is generating a lot of coverage in the media, and the local elections always have a lot of interest. I’ve had several people inquire about running for local offices.  We are always looking for interested qualified candidates.”

Those interested in qualifying can contact Poole at cpoole@cpoole.com.