Alaskans have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to vote in the state’s top-four primary election.
Here are three things to know:
What are we voting on?
Tuesday’s primary election, featuring candidates from all parties, will narrow the field to no more than four candidates in each race ahead of the ranked choice general election in November.
Alaska’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, all 40 state House seats and 10 state Senate seats will be on the primary ballot. But just three of those races will see candidates eliminated. Those races are:
- The 12-way race for U.S. House, where Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola is seeking reelection against a field that includes Republicans Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom. That’s a statewide race, so every primary voter will have a chance to weigh in.
- The race for state Senate District L in Eagle River, where Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick is making a bid for another term against four challengers.
- The race for an open state House race representing District 36, covering a broad swath of the Interior. Six candidates are running for the seat, which is currently held by Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok. Cronk is vacating the seat to run for the state Senate.
However, even in races with four or fewer candidates, the primary may be an early indicator of voter enthusiasm and some Republican candidates have pledged to withdraw if they don’t receive the most votes among fellow party members. Most notably, Begich has said he’ll drop out of the U.S. House race if he is bested by Dahlstrom.
You can find your sample ballot at the Alaska Division of Elections’ website. Ballots are available in English and, for some districts, in other languages — Chevak Cup´ik, Filipino (Tagalog), Northern Inupiaq, Nunivak Cup’ig and six dialects of Yup’ik.
How do I vote?
On primary day — Tuesday, Aug. 20 — polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters must be 18 or older and have registered to vote at least 30 days before the election. For the primary, the registration deadline was July 21.
If you’re not sure where your polling place is, or whether you’re registered, you can check the My Voter Portal on the Division of Elections website. That portal also indicates your state House district.
Voters need to bring a form of ID to the polling place. That can include a driver’s license or state ID card, a military ID, a voter registration card, a hunting or fishing license, a birth certificate or a utility bill, government check, bank statement, paycheck or another government document that includes the voter’s name and current address, according to the Division of Elections.
On the ballot, you’ll select one candidate in each race who you’d like to see advance to the general election. The primary, unlike the general election in November, is not a ranked choice election, so be sure to make only one selection per race.
Many candidates have responded to a questionnaire from the Alaska Beacon outlining their positions on the issues.
Unless you specifically requested and received an absentee ballot for this election, you’ll have to go to a polling place to vote. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, August 20, but can arrive up to 10 days later.
When will we know the results?
Ballot counting takes some time, especially since absentee ballots can arrive up to 10 days after the election, but there will be a substantial number of votes tallied on Tuesday.
State elections officials say the first batch of results is expected to be posted to the Division of Elections’ website sometime after 9 p.m. Tuesday. The results reported Tuesday will include votes cast in person on Tuesday, plus early votes cast at designated “Early Vote Locations,” which are found in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, the Mat-Su, the Kenai Peninsula and Nome.
Tuesday’s results will also include some, but not all, absentee-by-mail and absentee-in-person ballots. Absentee-in-person voting is a common method of early voting in many rural communities.
Historically, updates have continued into the early morning hours on Wednesday.
Elections officials will continue counting absentee ballots through Aug. 30. As more absentee ballots are counted, state officials plan to release another batch of results on Aug. 27 and a final count 10 days after the election on Aug. 30.
The results do not become official until they’re certified by the State Review Board, which the state anticipates happening on Sept. 1.
Keep an eye on alaskapublic.org for takeaways from this year’s primaries.
Eric Stone covers state government, tracking the Alaska Legislature, state policy and its impact on all Alaskans. Reach him at estone@alaskapublic.org.
