Of the 73,022 ballots received in the recent Anchorage election, the city’s five-member election commission voted to reject a total of 1,087. The rejected ballots include 602 with signature discrepancies and 336 with “various issues,” such as voters being registered outside of the municipality and packages postmarked after election day, April 2.
William Northrop, the acting Elections Administrator, focused on what he believed were positives from the nearly 1,100 rejected ballots, claiming that election officials “make every effort” to contact voters when their ballot is deemed problematic.
This year, the city piloted a new Text2Cure system aimed at assisting voters in curing (or fixing) the signature discrepancy using their smartphones.
“Every year, we get better and better at helping Anchorage vote,” Northrop said.
On the whole, the ballot rejection rate is down slightly from mayoral election in 2021. That year a total of 1,412 out of 76,853 ballots (1.8%) were rejected. This year, 1.5% were tossed out.
But participation was also down compared to three years ago with nearly 4,000 fewer ballots received.
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In 2018, Anchorage moved to a mail-in voting system, claiming it would improve voter turnout. Since then, voter participation in the past three mayoral elections has been 32.8%, only one-tenth of one percentage point higher than the 32.67% from the seven previous mayoral elections dating back to 1997.
In fact, since the initial mail-in election in 2018, which saw a 36.3% voter turnout, the numbers have decreased from 31.8% in 2021 to just 30.3% this year.
This year’s election resulted in far-left Assemblywoman Suzanne LaFrance outpacing her conservative counterpart, incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson – 36.24% to 35.56%, but since neither candidate earned 45% of the vote – the minimum to claim victory – the contest is headed to a run-off mayoral election on May 14.
In other contests, three hard-left, incumbent school board candidates easily beat their more conservative-minded challengers, and voters approved about $124 million in new bond debt for schools and various city projects.
The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to certify the 2024 election during the April 23 Assembly Meeting.
9 Comments
Are you suggesting that voter participation will increase with in-person voting required?
It certainly would help curtail voting fraud, which we all know leans to the left.
Source? All the reports I’ve read were registered Republicans committing voter fraud. Got any evidence to back your claim?
Lol This is the best comment that I have read in a while: “All the reports I’ve read were registered Republicans committing voter fraud.” Oh no. Demoncrats never ever, ever manipulate events do they? For example, switching parties to vote as a different party and then switching back for the main election. Thanks for the good laugh and your name is a joke also.
“The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to certify the 2024 election” We’ll see if they do the right thing. Did all those missing Eagle River/Chugiak ballots get reconciled or is the Anchorage Assembly going to certify the election and ignore those. I think that voters should take up a lawsuit against the Anchorage Assembly and the Muni.
In spite of the fraud, conservative voters are shooting themselves in the foot by not showing up in force to vote. If you do not show up, the left wins! President Trump speaks of this allot. There will always be a degree of fraud until we reform our election system and clean the voter rolls. But if you choose to make an excuse not to vote, the people destroying our nation win. In May, Conservatives need to show up for Bronson. He is the only thing preventing the communists in the Anchorage Assembly from running rough shod over your life. Stop complaining and take action!
Agree, if you don’t vote then you have no say, so quit crying about the election.
Where theirs crime or fraud Treg Taylor won’t be there! The motto that will live on well after this stupid dunleavy administration is gone !!!!!!
Anchorage is already a stinky cesspool of a city. If Bronson loses, flush all your hopes down the toilet.