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Voters chat after voting at The Dwelling Place on Redstone Road on Nov. 4, 2014 in Huntsville, Ala. (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com)

( (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com))

Gov. Kay Ivey will sign into law today a bill to ban crossover voting in party primaries, Press Secretary Eileen Jones said.

The bill says that if a voter participates in the primary of one party, that voter cannot participate in the primary runoff of the other party.

The Republican majorities in the House and Senate passed the bills over opposition from Democrats.

"It helps the Democrats choose Democratic candidates, it helps the Republicans choose Republican candidates. It just prevents the cross-over voting so you get a pure general election with a Democrat and a Republican," Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, the sponsor of the bill, told AL.com after the bill passed the Senate in April.

Secretary of State John Merrill said the new law would be in effect for the special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions. The party primaries for that election are Aug. 15, and runoffs, if necessary, will be held Sept. 26. Runoffs appear likely because there are 11 Republicans candidates and eight Democrats.

Merrill said the bill includes an amendment that he said will shorten waiting times at the polls. It authorizes counties to use electronic polling books for elections in place of paper sign-in sheets.

Twenty-five counties used electronic books on a pilot basis in the November 2016 election, Merrill said.

The new law allows all counties to use them with consent of their county commission and probate judge.

As for crossover voting, Democrats have had a party rule prohibiting Republicans from voting in their runoffs for decades.

Nothing stops a voter from violating the rule. But Party Chairwoman Nancy Worley said it could come into play if an election is challenged.

That happened in a landmark dispute in the 1986 Democratic primary between Bill Baxley and Charlie Graddick.

Today's bill-signing will take place in the governor's office but will not be open to the media, Jones said.

Merrill had earlier told AL.com that there would be a bill signing ceremony at the Capitol. Jones said it was Ivey's decision to sign the bill in private but she did not know the reason.

John Bennett, a spokesman for Merrill, later said there was never a signing ceremony planned and apologized for the incorrect information.

Governors sometimes hold ceremonies for high-profile bills but sign most bills privately.

Updated at 11:59 a.m. to add information from John Bennett.