A proposal that would block elected officials from making changes or additions to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s official election guide will go before the Mat-Su Assembly for a vote next week.
The measure, proposed by Assembly member Tim Hale, would give the borough clerk final say over what goes into the annual nonpartisan guide, eliminating an Assembly review process currently required under borough code.
“There are certain things that we should not allow politicians to muck about with, and election information is one of them,” Hale said in an interview.
The proposal follows a unanimous Assembly vote in September to update this year’s brochure with a statement decrying political violence and honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk and other victims.
That statement was not announced in advance, and the public was not allowed to comment before it was approved. The taxpayer-funded guide is mailed to the borough’s nearly 100,000 registered voters.
Borough code requires the Assembly to approve the annual brochure, including candidate statements, sample ballots and general voter information. The vote typically approves minor technical changes, Borough Clerk Lonnie McKechnie said in September. The addition of the memorial statement marked the first major update from the dais in at least two decades, she said.
The proposal would eliminate Assembly approval from the brochure process while also limiting the guide’s contents to ballot proposition details, pro and con statements for referrendums, propositions or initiatives, candidate information, sample ballots and general voting information.
The statement honoring Kirk was initially proposed by Assembly member Maxwell Sumner on Sept. 16. It was inspired by Kirk’s death six days earlier and was intended as a broad pronouncement in support of freedom of expression, he said. The heading, “In memoriam of Charlie Kirk (1993–2025),” was proposed by Assembly member Dmitri Fonov and amended by Assembly member Stephanie Nowers to add “and other victims of political violence.”
Sumner and Hale voted against adding the heading recognizing Kirk and other victims but did not object to the full statement, which was approved unanimously without a voice vote.
More than a dozen Mat-Su residents testified against the measure during regular Assembly meetings in October. A state election watchdog rejecteda citizen complaint filed regarding the matter.
Hale said he did not vote against final approval because he knew he would lose. He said adding the statement ultimately created unnecessary problems in the Mat-Su community.
“I think we saw that it created division in the community when we did muck about with it. And I think that the Assembly has kind of come to the realization that maybe that's not something we should do,” he said.
Hale did not run for reelection and will leave his seat this month.
While Assembly approval of some election brochure language is standard in boroughs across the state, approval of the full pamphlet is not. For example, local laws in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Fairbanks North Star Borough and Ketchikan Gateway Borough require Assemblies to approve only the language associated with ballot propositions.
Hale said the Mat-Su Assembly should trust the borough clerk to proof the guide and should not be empowered to make any updates.
“It’s not even necessary for it to come to the Assembly for technical revisions,” he said. “The clerk is perfectly capable of doing her own editing, copywriting, yeah. And I think it is up to us to trust her to place the pertinent information before the voters without fear, favor or bias.”
The proposal will be up for a public hearing and vote at the regular Assembly meeting scheduled for Nov. 18.
This story was originally published by the Mat-Su Sentinel and is republished here with permission.
