By AlaskaWatchman.com

The Juneau Assembly will hold a public hearing on June 14 to consider whether to amend its elections code so that mail-in ballots no longer require a witness verification signature to ensure the identity of a voter.

Current code requires that mail-in ballot envelopes contain the signature of one witness who verifies the absentee voter’s identity. The measure is in place to prevent fraud in mail-in voting.

Supporters of witness signature requirements maintain that the process prevents fraud by holding others (the witnesses) responsible for the authenticity of the voter.

The upcoming meeting in Juneau begins at 6 p.m. on June 14 and will be livestreamed on Zoom.

TAKING ACTION

  • Click here to watch and participate in the meeting from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device.
  • To join by phone dial 1-253-215-8782. The webinar ID is 915 1542 4903.
  • To send a message to all Assembly members, Mayor & City Manager email BoroughAssembly@juneau.org.
  • Click here to contact individual Assembly members.
  • For more information on how to participate in the June 14 meeting, contact the clerk’s office at (586) 5278 or city.clerk@juneau.org.
  • In-person public participation will be limited on a first come, first served basis to no more than eight persons in the public audience seats. Masks are required for anyone in the room who is not fully vaccinated. Attendees in excess of that number will be requested to participate via Zoom webinar.
  • Testimony time will be limited by the Mayor based on the number of participants. Members of the public are encouraged to send their comments in advance of the meeting to BoroughAssembly@juneau.org.
  • When attending the zoom webinar to speak on an item up for public hearing or a non-agenda item, hit the ‘raise hand’ button if participating via a computer/tablet; if participating by phone press *9 on your phone; this will place a ‘raised hand’ icon next to your phone number and will add you to the queue. 

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Juneau may scrap witness verification safeguard for mail-in ballots

Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 24 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.