Elections

A federal judge has denied the request of several Alaska Natives to temporarily bar the state from implementing a new redistricting plan. The decision by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason comes one day after she heard arguments in the case.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason heard oral arguments today in a case against the state division of elections. Judge Gleason is weighing whether or...

The Legislative Ethics Committee today (Thursday) partially resolved a question from candidates and voters concerned about their representation after the effects of redistricting kick...

A group of Alaska Natives is suing the state Division of Elections. The group includes Vicki Otte, CEO of MTNT, the McGrath area Alaska Native Corporation, and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp.

A group of Alaska Natives are suing to keep state election officials from implementing a redistricting plan until that plan wins U.S. Justice Department approval. The plaintiffs, in a federal lawsuit filed last week, claim state officials are violating the federal voting rights act by moving forward in implementing a new plan for this year's elections before the plan wins preclearance from Justice.

Alaskans will see a new element in state politics this year – an unlimited amount of money. The money will come from Independent Expenditure Groups or IEGs. Those IEGs are organizations that work outside a candidate’s regulated campaign – and, because of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, work outside of the legal limits and restrictions the state had imposed on donors and campaigns in previous elections.

The chairman of the state’s Redistricting Board says that although there’s still not a final plan on the books yet, voters have a fair plan ready for this year’s elections.

Alaskans for Fair Redistricting released a statement last week calling the Redistricting Board’s Amended Proclamation Plan “terrible.” Vince Beltrami is the co-chair of AFFR. He says the latest plan could result in the loss of a protected seat in proposed district 38, which pairs urban communities in Fairbanks with rural communities as far out as the Bering Sea Coast.

Most of the uncontested races from last week had disappeared by Friday’s filing deadline – as 149 candidates decided to put their names on the ballot for the party primary elections in August and the general election in November.

The Alaska Supreme Court says the candidate filing deadline for the August primary will remain June first. The court this afternoon denied a Democratic Party petition to delay the candidate filing deadline for two weeks. In a petition filed Tuesday, ADP director Kay Brown said multiple redistricting plans have created uncertainty over new district lines. The Alaska Supreme Court last week threw out the Redistricting Board’s latest plan and adopted the April 5 version. The ruling came just ten days before the June 1st candidate filing deadline.

The U.S. House and Senate are out of session at the moment, but when the two chambers return from the Memorial Day recess, they’ll have a full plate. July is usually reserved for appropriations - the giant bills that fund all the different agencies of the government. Congress has been writing and marking up all sorts of appropriations bills, and getting them ready for up or down votes come summertime.

Petersburg will ask the Alaska Supreme Court to reconsider its decision on redistricting. The City Council made that decision after consulting with its attorney in a special meeting yesterday afternoon.

The Anchorage Assembly certified the recount of the April 3rd Municipal Election Tuesday evening. Several Assembly members pushed for public comment on the certification, but the chair denied it.

The Alaska Supreme Court approved a redistricting plan for the 2012 elections on Tuesday. Alaska Redistricting Board executive director Taylor Bickford says the high court has accepted the amended proclamation plan of April 5, including voting maps for Southeast Alaska districts that the high Court had previously rejected.

The Supreme Court’s latest redistricting ruling resurrects a contest between two incumbent Southeast lawmakers. Tuesday’s decision puts Wrangell Representative Peggy Wilson in the same election district as Ketchikan Representative Kyle Johansen. They’ll face off against each other, as well as other candidates, in the August 28th Republican primary. The new district matchup is only in place for this year’s elections

The state’s Redistricting Board made short work of its agenda Monday in Anchorage, voting unanimously to revise two Southeast Senate districts as ordered by the Alaska Supreme Court.

The Alaska Redistricting Board will start redrawing Southeast Alaska’s legislative districts on Monday.

Attorneys for the state Redistricting Board and for those opposed to the Board’s latest plan faced off in oral arguments Thursday before the Alaska Supreme Court.

The Chair of the Anchorage Assembly has appointed an independent third party investigator to look into what went wrong during the April 3rd Municipal Election. A retired judge investigate the matter. Chair Ernie Hall made the announcement at Tuesday's regular assembly meeting, along with other election updates. KSKA's Daysha Eaton was there and has this report.

Thursday morning, Alaska's Supreme Court will hear arguments on which voting district map will be used for this year's elections. Earlier this month, the...