A Kenai Borough proposition to require hand-counting of all ballots cast in-person on election day, is trailing. As of Oct. 7 election night, the vote was 3,410 to 3,780, with absentee ballots not yet tallied.

The hand count proposition, which was backed by many area conservatives, seeks to amend borough code and eliminated the use of electronic voting tabulators.

While conservatives may be dismayed with early returns on the hand-count effort, a second proposition to change borough election dates to align with the State of Alaska’s election dates is doing much better. In early returns this proposition was overwhelmingly ahead – 4,636 to 2,561.

This bodes well for conservatives in future Kenai elections. Typically, voter turnout is very low in city and borough elections, which allows unions and leftist organizations to exercise outsized influence in electing more liberal candidates. During statewide elections, however, when turnout is higher, conservative candidates do much better. By aligning local elections with statewide contests, Kenai will likely see higher voter participation in the years ahead.

Last year, the Mat-Su Borough, one of the most conservative in Alaska, changed its election dates to align with statewide elections. This was hailed as a victory for conservatives.

In a separate ballot proposition, Kenai voters overwhelmingly chose to expand tax exemptions on residential property from $50,000 to $75,000. This measure was passing by a vote of 5,727 to 1,513.

Additionally, residents who want lower taxes will be pleased with early returns on another proposition that rejects an effort to annually adjust the borough sales tax cap for inflation.

Click here to view the early election results.

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