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By PAUL DEMARCO / Columnist

Note: This is an opinion column.

This past week’s municipal elections in Alabama put us one step closer to the big fall General Election. There are still a number of run-offs in city elections set for Oct. 6, then the November votes will be next up.

The pandemic has made this one of the most unusual election years in Alabama history. After getting through the spring Republican Primary, Gov. Kay Ivey postponed the run-off until July, which was ultimately won by Tommy Tuberville.

This of course, was a campaign for the Senate no one saw coming after Jeff Sessions’ appointment by President Donald Trump to his cabinet created a vacancy and Democrat Doug Jones beat Roy Moore to ascend to represent Alabama in the United States Senate.

While less than a quarter of the Alabama residents showed up for local races, we can expect a much higher turnout for the presidential election and race between Jones and Tuberville.

In 2016, almost 67 percent of registered voters showed up to vote in the election that gave the nod to President Trump.

We should expect an even larger turnout in Alabama this year with both the strongly contested presidential and senate elections.

Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives.