Think you’re signed up to get your ballot in the mail? You’re probably not.
Anchorage folks, here is a quick quiz: If you got your ballot in the mail in April and May for the municipal elections, will you get it in the mail for the presidential election? The answer is no — at least, not automatically.
If that sounds confusing, you’re not alone. The Anchorage Municipality sent out ballots in the mail automatically for the mayoral elections. Because of this, many Anchorage voters believe they will receive their ballots by mail for the upcoming statewide elections in August and November; however, this is not the case! To get their state ballot in the mail, voters must actively sign up by Aug. 10. Failure to do so will mean not receiving a ballot in the mail for the upcoming elections, meaning you will have to go vote in person.
I just discovered this myself, and it’s extremely worrying to me that many Anchorage voters might be accidentally disenfranchised. The good news is that Alaska is a “no excuse” voting state, which means that you do not have to be absent in order to request an absentee ballot. Visit https://absenteeballotapplication.alaska.gov/ to sign up online. It takes less than a minute!
— Annika Gagnon
Anchorage
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