Absentee Ballots

By-the-numbers, there were less Alaska voters in this year's Presidential election when compared to 2008's election, but on the plus side, there was an increase in registered voters. Alaska has been traditionally a Republican state and the popular vote carried out those results with the Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan ticket getting 55 percent of the votes and 41 percent going to President Barack Obama and VP Joe Biden who will return to the White House for a second term . As of 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, the Division of Elections reported that 44 percent of registered voters casted ballots with about 99 percent of the precincts reporting its election results.

Despite watching poll numbers late into the night, and then getting up early for a live interview on Channel 2 News, Democratic state Sen. Hollis French appeared calm and rested Wednesday morning. “I feel good,” French said. French, a member of the Senate's now-defunct bipartisan coalition, is leading his fight to win back his seat with almost 51 percent of the vote. French has faced a tough race against GOP challenger Bob Bell after losing the traditionally more Democratic-leaning parts of his West Anchorage district -- areas like Westchester Lagoon, Valley of the Moon Park and many parts of Spenard -- to redistricting.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska said Thursday that it had requested numerous city records on last week's troubled elections following widespread ballot shortages, while election workers counted about 1,800 unscanned ballots. Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's office says 55 of 121 precincts -- many of them reported to Channel 2 by viewers and Facebook users -- experienced ballot shortages. Her office apologized for the shortages earlier this week. In a letter to Gruenstein (PDF)

Absentee and early voting could play an important role in the outcome of the U.S. Senate race. Officials at the state Division of Elections say that in the first three days of early voting, over 2,700 ballots have been cast. If that pace continues over the 15 days of early voting, it would exceed the total of 8,455 early ballots cast in the 2006 general election. So far, election officials have mailed more than 27,600 absentee ballots, which is more than were mailed in 2006. The Division of Elections doesn't expect to start counting names written onto ballots until about Nov. 18, when the total number of ballots is known and it's clear whether the state must legally count write-ins.

by Jason Lamb Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by Jason Lamb Wednesday, April 7, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The city clerk's office says that 175 people in a Downtown precinct were mistakenly handed Midtown ballots by an election worker in Tuesday's municipal election. The clerk's office will correct the mistake Thursday afternoon by removing the improper votes for Dick Traini and Andy Clary, the two Midtown candidates in a close bid for the Assembly seat, with Traini leading by just 183 votes.

Anchorage’s municipal clerk says complete election results -- including all absentee, early and mail-in votes -- won’t be available until Friday, April 15. City Clerk Barbara Gruenstein said Wednesday afternoon that 2,503 absentee ballots had been counted on election night. A total of 41,662 votes were tabulated during Tuesday’s city elections, in which voters elected six Assembly and two School Board members and decided the fate of several ballot propositions. Click HERE to see Assembly/School Board results, and click HERE to see bond/proposition results.

Early voting in Alaska is way ahead of 2006, the last non-presidential election year.  There are 15 days of early voting, and as of Sunday, the 13th day, almost 11,000 ballots had been counted statewide.  In 2006 there were more than 8,400 early ballots cast. But with two days yet to go, this year’s count is already more than 2,400 ballots cast over four years ago. The stream of early voters at the Division of Elections office in Anchorage has been strong and steady.

As absentee ballots continue to pour into the state Division of Elections, speculation continues to fly about Sen. Lisa Murkowski's options if she isn't able to pull ahead of challenger Joe Miller when absentee numbers are released on Tuesday. The deadline for Murkowski to run as an independent is long gone, as she would have had to file by June 1. Her only other options are a write-in campaign or to be put on as the nominee for another party -- and according to Alaska Libertarian Party Chair Scott Kohlhaas, it's definitely a thought that has crossed party leaders' minds.

The voting may be over, but it could be awhile before Anchorage residents see the final results of the 2013 municipal election. Workers spent much of Wednesday reviewing the eligibility of absentee and questioned ballots. Amanda Moser, the city's deputy clerk of elections, says the ballots for all precincts have not yet been totaled. "There is a total of 120 precincts throughout the Municipality of Anchorage and in the election results, there are two additional precincts," Moser said.

Mayor Dan Sullivan is back at work Wednesday after pulling in a lot more votes than his nearest competitor in the race, Paul Honeman. But the day after the 2012 election and its ballot confusion, Honeman said he's not ready to concede, and like Mayor Sullivan, is seeking legal advice. Sullivan declared victory outright during his weekly press conference Wednesday. “I appreciate the voters' confidence in granting us a second term,” he said. Sullivan said he's focused on running an efficient and effective city government, while Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler examines the election.

The voting may be over, but it could be awhile before Anchorage residents see the final results of the 2013 municipal election. Workers spent much of Wednesday reviewing the eligibility of absentee and questioned ballots. Amanda Moser, the city's deputy clerk of elections, says the ballots for all precincts have not yet been totaled. "There is a total of 120 precincts throughout the Municipality of Anchorage and in the election results, there are two additional precincts," Moser said.

Despite watching poll numbers late into the night, and then getting up early for a live interview on Channel 2 News, Democratic state Sen. Hollis French appeared calm and rested Wednesday morning. “I feel good,” French said. French, a member of the Senate's now-defunct bipartisan coalition, is leading his fight to win back his seat with almost 51 percent of the vote. French has faced a tough race against GOP challenger Bob Bell after losing the traditionally more Democratic-leaning parts of his West Anchorage district -- areas like Westchester Lagoon, Valley of the Moon Park and many parts of Spenard -- to redistricting.

By-the-numbers, there were less Alaska voters in this year's Presidential election when compared to 2008's election, but on the plus side, there was an increase in registered voters. Alaska has been traditionally a Republican state and the popular vote carried out those results with the Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan ticket getting 55 percent of the votes and 41 percent going to President Barack Obama and VP Joe Biden who will return to the White House for a second term . As of 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, the Division of Elections reported that 44 percent of registered voters casted ballots with about 99 percent of the precincts reporting its election results.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska said Thursday that it had requested numerous city records on last week's troubled elections following widespread ballot shortages, while election workers counted about 1,800 unscanned ballots. Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's office says 55 of 121 precincts -- many of them reported to Channel 2 by viewers and Facebook users -- experienced ballot shortages. Her office apologized for the shortages earlier this week. In a letter to Gruenstein (PDF)

Anchorage election officials apologized for widespread ballot shortages in last week's city elections Monday, saying that the review of more than 6,000 questioned ballots was still in progress. Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's office said in a statement that Tuesday's shortages were a result of poor distribution, not an insufficient number of ballots being on hand. Nearly half of the city's precincts -- 55 of 121 -- experienced ballot shortages Tuesday, many of which were reported by Channel 2 viewers and Facebook users.

Anchorage voters headed to the polls Tuesday evening for the municipal elections reported a wave of ballot shortages across the city, leaving some people unable to vote at their polling locations after a proposition opponent wrongly told people they could register and vote on the same day. At Dimond High School, voters were being asked to vote questioned ballots. An election worker at the school said questioned ballots can take as long as two weeks to process. An email sent Tuesday afternoon by Jim Minnery with Protect Your Rights, a group opposing equal-rights initiative Proposition 5, told people they could register and vote on the same day. "Did you know that people can register and vote at the same location and it doesn't even have to be at their precinct location?"

Anchorage election officials have acknowledged  ballot shortages in Tuesday's city elections,  but say early ballots are being organized for counting Wednesday amid a city review of the possibility that voters were discouraged from voting by long lines and confusing instructions on where to vote. A  Wednesday press release from Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's office (PDF)  says Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler's office will review the impact of ballot shortages on the validity of the election.

Mayor Dan Sullivan is back at work Wednesday after pulling in a lot more votes than his nearest competitor in the race, Paul Honeman. But the day after the 2012 election and its ballot confusion, Honeman said he's not ready to concede, and like Mayor Sullivan, is seeking legal advice. Sullivan declared victory outright during his weekly press conference Wednesday. “I appreciate the voters' confidence in granting us a second term,” he said. Sullivan said he's focused on running an efficient and effective city government, while Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler examines the election.

By the time polls open in Anchorage on Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., more than 7,000 voters will have already cast their ballots. A steady stream of voters continued to arrive at the Loussac Library's absentee voting station, which has been open since March 19, for its final day of absentee voting Monday. “It's been extremely busy this year,” said Sharon McCracken, who was assisting voters at the voting station.  “Friday, we had 322 voters.” McCracken says the daily number of voters at the Loussac Library has been up from past years.

Anchorage’s municipal clerk says complete election results -- including all absentee, early and mail-in votes -- won’t be available until Friday, April 15. City Clerk Barbara Gruenstein said Wednesday afternoon that 2,503 absentee ballots had been counted on election night. A total of 41,662 votes were tabulated during Tuesday’s city elections, in which voters elected six Assembly and two School Board members and decided the fate of several ballot propositions. Click HERE to see Assembly/School Board results, and click HERE to see bond/proposition results.