For Mobile County residents, brushing up on the candidates isn’t the only homework they have to do before entering the polls on Tuesday.

They are also going to have find out which congressional district they live in.

For the first time in memory, the newly approved congressional map has carved up the city and county into two distinct congressional districts. Voters are being encouraged to check the Alabama Secretary of State’s website to find out where they vote. In many cases, the difference between voting in the 1st or 2nd congressional district races could depend on what side of the street your live in.

“There will be thousands of people walking into the ballot booth looking for Jerry Carl and Barry Moore, and they will see Dick Brewbaker and Greg Albritton and not have the foggiest idea who they are,” said Jon Gray, a political strategist base in Mobile, referring to Republicans who are running in the two separate congressional races.

Indeed, most of Mobile’s city residents – long accustomed to voting in the primary for Alabama’s 1st congressional district representative – will have to get used to voting in the 2nd district following a court-authorized redraw of the state’s seven congressional districts last fall.

Much of Mobile is included in a 2nd congressional district that sprawls from east to west and includes the City of Montgomery, Troy, Eufaula, Tuskegee, Greenville, Union Springs, Evergreen, and Frisco City.

The changes resulted in two congressional districts with candidates — especially on the Republican side this year — who have inundated the airwaves in recent weeks with commercials advertising their candidacies within the Mobile and Baldwin TV markets.

Problem is, voters who are unaware of which congressional district they live in might not realize who they are voting on based on the barrage of campaign ads.

The political parties are aware of the issue, and are bracing for confusion.

“I still think there will be a high level of confusion on why Jerry Carl is not going to be on a lot of people’s ballots,” said Mobile County Republican Chairwoman Tricia Strange, referring to the former Mobile County Commissioner and current 1st district congressman who is running in the redrawn 1st district that omits much of the city.

“I think people will be surprised on Tuesday,” she said. “There will be a lot of ballot shock and questions of poll workers.”

Related content: Splintering of Mobile: New congressional district map carves up Alabama’s second largest county

Democrats are also bracing for similar confusion, but not as much as the Republicans. For the Democrats, they will see a rarity in Mobile County: A competitive primary election for a congressional seat in the redrawn 2nd district.

“The Secretary of State’s website is a good way to check registration, but we’ve encountered a little bit of (confusion),” said Mobile County Democratic Party Chairman Ben Harris. “Generally speaking, though, the Democratic voters are very excited about the District 2 race. For the first time in 60 years, we have an opportunity for a good portion of this area to be represented by a Democratic congressman, and we feel excited about that.”

Election officials say they have done their due diligence. Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis said that all registered and active voters in Mobile County received a courtesy postcard a few weekends ago providing voters with key election information, including which congressional district they reside. Additionally, he said, the Board of Registrars issued a different postcard to all registered voters whose congressional districts changed, or whose precinct and polling location changed.

Davis also noted that maps of the redrawn congressional districts are available on the Probate Office’s website.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen’s Office is instructing voters to view their polling locations and verify their district by entering their information online at www.myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview.

“As a consequence of the congressional maps forced upon Alabama by the federal courts, thousands of voters will be in new districts when they go to the polls on March 5,” said Allen, a Republican, in a statement. “As Secretary of State, I would recommend that all registered voters, especially ones who are likely affected by redistricting, to visit the Secretary of State’s website to verify their voting district assignments and their polling locations before heading to the polls.”

The new map, and congressional district division, is the result of a three-judge panel’s decision in September to create a new purple 2nd congressional district that runs from Mobile County in Tillman’s Corner through the city and into the southern Black Belt to the Georgia border. It has a Black Voting Age population of 48.7% and gives Black voters in Alabama a second chance of electing a candidate of their choice. The only other Democratic district in Alabama is the 7th district, represented by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham.

The redrawing of the congressman maps is the result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Alabama’s previously drawn congressional map – which kept Mobile and Baldwin counties in the 1st district – violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The new map, instead of six safe Republican congressional districts and one safe Democratic district, now has two districts where Democrats have a realistic chance to win.

The fallout from the redone map have been competitive primaries in both the 1st and 2nd districts.

• In District 1 – where Baldwin County is the No. 1 population center – Carl is running against Moore, whose hometown of Enterprise was redrawn into the district. Moore is the current 2nd district representative. Democrat Tom Holmes will face the winner in November.
• In District 2, a total of 18 candidates are running for the congressional seat – 11 Democrats, seven Republicans. Experts anticipate a runoff occurring for both Democrats and Republicans on April 16.

Strange said she believes it’s important for the candidates to make sure their supporters know where to vote.

“It’s really going to lean on these primary candidates to have their people on the phone, in the neighborhoods and knocking on doors and making sure people are aware,” she said. “It’s not like the general election when our party is involved and pushing our ticket. For the primary, it’s hands off. The party doesn’t pick a winner.”