Ahead of Tuesday’s municipal election, Anchorage sees surge in early ballots but fewer workers to count them

Early voting data for the Anchorage municipal election projects an increase in voter participation over 2019, though that won’t be clear until every ballot in Tuesday’s election has been counted.

But that process is expected to take longer this year, as some election workers withdrew due to concern over the coronavirus.

“Here at the (election center) I think I’ve had probably eight to 10 that have dropped out,” said Anchorage Clerk Barbara Jones. “We’re really short.”

The deadline to vote in the Anchorage election is 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ballots can be submitted either by mail or by dropping them in one of 18 drop sites.

Voters will decide six Anchorage Assembly seats, two Anchorage School Board seats, a school bond, several area service bonds, an alcohol tax, whether to add another Assembly seat and whether to allow on-site consumption of marijuana.

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As of Monday, 50,088 ballot envelopes had been returned. And as of Friday, 41,329 of those ballot envelopes were verified as having no signature issues. That is 127% of the number of ballot envelopes verified at that point in 2019, which was also an Assembly race. Friday’s count was about 95% of 2018′s number at that point, a year with a mayoral race, which generally increases voter participation.

Jones said she is encouraging everyone who is voting by mail to go to the post office and have a worker time stamp their ballot by hand, rather than dropping it in a mailbox.

Ballots mailed or submitted at drop-off sites on Tuesday will be counted Wednesday.

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Early votes have not yet been counted. Jones and her team have been working to collect mail-in ballots and staging them to be counted as quickly as possible on Tuesday night. But she doesn’t know how comprehensive the first-night totals will be.

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“We are working as fast and furiously as we can,” she said. “We will have as many as possible scanned and tabulated by about 8:30 p.m.”

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Vote totals will be published on the city’s website.

Anchorage Assembly Chairman Forrest Dunbar praised Jones for keeping the election going during the coronavirus pandemic, even as some election workers decided to stay home for safety.

“One of the things that is going to result from that is a possible delay … in the counting of the ballots," Dunbar said.

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Dunbar said he does not anticipate a delay in when candidates are sworn into office.

While a state mandate limits gatherings of more than 10 people, Anchorage’s election center is an essential government service, so more than 10 people are allowed in.

Jones said she will only allow 10 members of the public inside to reduce the chances of someone spreading the virus. She is encouraging people to stay home this year, rather than watch results from inside the election center.

“Of course people can come in, we’re just asking them not to unless they have essential business,” Jones said.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the election workers were volunteers. They are temporary employees.