Following concerns raised about Alaska's 2022 elections, including ballot counting delays and transparency issues, Governor Mike Dunleavy and the Senate majority caucus are proposing new election reform bills. Dunleavy's bill focuses on modernizing voting procedures, including changes to voter registration, absentee ballots, and early voting timelines. The Senate bill aims to streamline the voting process, expand voter access, and ensure accurate voter rolls. Both parties acknowledge the need for reform and plan to work together to find common ground.
A voter in Alaska's special U.S. House primary election drops their ballot into a box on Saturday, June 11, 2022 as a poll worker observes.
The bill would eliminate the automatic voter registration process when applying for the Permanent Fund Dividend. That provision was enacted in 2016, when Alaskans passed a ballot measure to allow voter registration during the application process. On the Senate side, the new majority, made up of a coalition of Democratic and Republican senators, is set to put forth an election reform bill focused on a range of issues, including streamlining the voting process and expanding access for voters.
For mail-in ballots, the bill would also pay for postage for all ballots, and eliminate the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots, which Wielechowski said isn’t verified and has disqualified ballots unnecessarily. “We heard stories this past year about somebody who made a mistake on their ballot. It was identified on their absentee ballot. It was identified before the election, and they couldn’t fix it. Everybody knew there was a mistake and unfortunately, his ballot was just discounted. Yeah, so we’re trying to fix things like that.”, the bill would require ballot drop boxes be available at each regional office, if feasible, and one per every 20,000 residents.
ALASKA ELECTIONS ELECTION REFORM VOTER REGISTRATION ABSENTEE BALLOTS GOVERNOR DUNLEAVY
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