Election

Voters in Alaska have until 11:59 p.m. to register to vote in the primary elections. Offices around the state are open from noon until 4 p.m. today to assist people in updating their voter information, including party affiliation. People can also register online or print out a voter registration form and fax or email it to a regional elections office before the deadline. For a list of primary election candidates and office locations, visit http://www.elections.alaska.gov/ .

Nearly 14 weeks after the April Municipal Elections in Anchorage, yet another shoe has dropped in connection with that flawed election day. On July 11, 141 sample ballots were discovered in a vault in Anchorage City Hall. As of publication, no one knows if those votes were counted in the election. In a way, the matter is academic. 141 votes will not alter the outcome of any race or ballot-proposition from April 3rd. The closest vote on any matter before the public that day was decided by a margin of at least 3,000 people.

Every legislative district in Anchorage has changed after the State Supreme Court drew new lines in the redistricting map earlier this year. Nearly a dozen new district chairs and representatives were elected Saturday to serve on the Alaska Democratic Party Central Committee. "It's really important for the people of who are the base of the Democratic Party to be able to connect with the candidates," said Amie Staley, Secretary of the Anchorage Democrats. Some state and congressional candidates competing in the primary were at the meeting.  Most pundits don't expect President Obama to win Alaska, but having him on the ballot this fall could help boost turnout.

A report from attorney Dan Hensley blames former Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's "hands off management strategy" for several of the problems in the April 3 Anchorage election in which more than half of the city's polling places ran out of ballots.   Hensley says Gruenstein delegated many election-related tasks to other employees without providing much supervision.  The report says that Gruenstein "had not participated in any meaningful way in election planning or execution for several years," and that lack of oversight allowed several "systemic" problems to build, resulting in the ballot shortages and other election problems in April.

Alaska Republican PartyChair Randy Ruedrich, who is slated to step down next year, says he is 'very concerned' about Chair-Elect Russ Millette urging all party members to attend the final session of the party's 2012 convention. “It is critical for Alaska Republicans to finalize the 2012 Party Platform, and complete the work of the Convention Committees,” Millette writes in a short press release.  “The matters brought forth by Delegates from their communities, and crafted into Resolutions, deserve the consideration and vote of the Convention body.” Ruedrich, however, calls the statement a 'gross miscarriage' of fact.

Anchorage city clerk Barbara Gruenstein has submitted a letter of resignation (PDF) to Anchorage Assembly Chair Ernie Hall. Gruenstein is in charge of the office that runs Anchorage's elections. Her resignation follows troubled city elections in April, in which election workers ran out of ballots at more than half of the polling places around the city. In Gruenstein's letter of resignation, she writes, "There have been many successes, but I understand that the problems of the April 3rd election have caused you to doubt the effectiveness of my continuing to serve.

Anchorage election officials say an initial recount of selected precincts in April's city elections requested by 10 voters is complete, but plan to hold subsequent recounts in six precincts Wednesday to clarify results. Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein's office said in a Tuesday statement that recounts of certain races in the 15 precincts initially requested by the voter group, which paid $100 per precinct, will be held as follows: Precinct 235 on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson: Proposition 4. Precinct 550 in Midtown: Proposition 7. Precinct 830 in South Anchorage: Proposition 7. Precinct 840 in South Anchorage: School Board Races E and F. Precinct 925 in South Anchorage: Mayor, Proposition 1. Precinct 660 in Midtown will see another hand count of total ballots, since Gruenstein says several hand counts have produced about half a dozen more votes than the count from AccuVote optical ballot-scanning machines.

Anchorage's deputy municipal clerk, Jacqueline Duke, was fired Wednesday by Assembly Chair Ernie Hall. When asked why Duke was terminated from her job, Hall said it was a personnel issue and couldn't comment beyond that. Hall says Duke serves at the discretion of the Assembly and the city. Duke worked under Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein. The two recently faced tough questions from the Assembly about last month's city elections, which saw widespread ballot shortages and ballot-box closures.

The Anchorage Assembly approved a contract Tuesday evening to hire an independent investigator to review the April city election. The assembly voted unanimously to hire retired Anchorage Superior Court Judge Dan Hensley to take a look at the issues including the shortage of ballots at many  voting stations. According to Assembly Chairman,  Ernie Hall,  the contract allows for up to 35- thousand dollars to be spent on the process but Hall says it's expected  to run around 33-thousand dollars.

A hand recount of votes cast during last month's elections in 15 of Anchorage's 119 precincts will begin Wednesday, according to city officials. According to Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein, the recount was r equested by 10 qualified voters, who paid $100 per precinct where they requested recounts. The selected locations include nearly a dozen precincts across Anchorage, as well as three in Eagle River and one on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The April 3 elections were marked by widespread ballot shortages and ballot-box closures, which have caused the Anchorage Assembly and Gruenstein's office to examine what went wrong.