ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage election officials’ preliminary review of less than half of local precincts has turned up about 3,000 questioned ballots and nearly 800 unscanned ballots, in the wake of widespread ballot shortagesin Tuesday’s municipal elections.
A statement from Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein’s office says that as of 3 p.m. Thursday, with 59 of 121 precincts reviewed, 3,001 questioned ballots had been found and counted. Of those, 2,193 were cast before Tuesday evening, when Channel 2 viewers and Facebook users reported ballot shortages at numerous polling places. An additional 808 were cast after shortages arose.
While 28 of the 59 precincts reviewed reported no ballot shortages, the questioned-ballot total was up markedly from 2011.
“By way of comparison, the number of Questioned ballots in last year’s election for ALL 121 precincts was 1,060,” officials wrote.
The precincts saw an additional 797 unscanned ballots, which were cast by voters who signed the voter register but unable to be scanned in the city’s AccuVote ballot-counting machines.
