Monday marked the start of early voting in Alaska’s Nov. 6 general election.
In addition to voting by mail or in-person on Election Day, Alaskans can also vote at designated early voting locations across the state.
And this year they’ll get an extra prize for voting early: one of Juneau artist Pat Race’s custom-designed stickers.
“I think it’s an enticement to get people to come out and vote early, so these stickers are only available if you vote before Election Day,” Race said.
The new “I voted” stickers feature cartoon versions of Alaskan animals in iconic settings. They come in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaska Native languages.
Race said the Division of Elections first approached him about illustrating the cover of the election pamphlets sent to voters. They liked his designs so much they decided to turn them into stickers, too.
Division spokesperson Samantha Miller said the contract with Race totaled $5,000. She said the division has also paid for election pamphlet art in the past.
Race said he hopes this will serve as a pilot program for future elections.
“I’m hoping that I can work with the Division of Elections to talk more about that after the elections and develop some guidelines for other artists to participate and maybe make this a tradition,” Race said.
Race is also selling prints of the designs at the Alaska Robotics gallery in downtown Juneau.
The traditional blue and gold “I voted” stickers will be available on Election Day.
In Juneau, voters have two options for early voting locations:
- the State Office Building downtown weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
- the Region I Elections Office in the Mendenhall Mall Annex weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Both locations will also have hours the weekend before the election, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Voters registered elsewhere in the state can also visit these locations to fill out an absentee ballot for their district.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27. Those ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 6.
