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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

Voters across Shelby County and the state of Alabama voted heavily in favor of two amendments that appeared on the ballot during the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

One, a local amendment to Shelby County, was aimed at allowing commissioners in the county to participate in the Employees’ Retirement System under certain conditions.

The other, a statewide amendment, didn’t pertain to the county, but will have an impact on school system’s across the state being able to sell land they own no matter what county it is in.

In the local amendment voting, residents of Shelby County voted in favor of the change by a decently wide margin. A total of 63,153 ended up voting for the change out of 97,456 votes cast, or 64.80 percent, while 34,303 voted against.

As for the statewide amendment, Shelby County residents voted even more heavily in favor of that with 65,919 residents voting in favor of it, which breaks down to 76.77 percent of the vote after 85,863 votes were cast.

That sentiment carried across the state as 74.38 percent of Alabama residents voted in favor of the amendment.

A total of 1,151,594 people voted in favor of the change, while 398,696 voted against.

The official amendment read: Proposing an amendment to the constitution of Alabama of 2022 to grant certain sixteenth section and indemnity school land that is owned in fee simple by the Franklin County School system, is located in Fayette County and Walker County, and is for the exclusive use of schools in the Franklin County School System to the Franklin County Board of Education; and to provide for the distribution of any proceeds and interest generated by this land to the Franklin County Board of Education.

The hope for the change is that by selling any land they own, despite its location, they will be able to help bring more to students and teachers.

With approval needed due to the issue taking place in multiple counties, it now sets the precedent should the issue arise anywhere else across the state, they would have the precedent to move forward.