Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Haines, along with municipalities across the state, is considering alternative options for holding local elections this year given COVID-19 concerns.

Haines Borough clerk Alekka Fullerton said she will likely request that the assembly pass an ordinance granting her emergency powers to change election protocol this year if necessary. According to state law and borough code, Fullerton is responsible for administering local elections.

Typically, Haines voters have the option of submitting absentee ballots by mail, email, fax, in-person or through a personal representative as well as voting in-person on election day. Fullerton said she would like to preserve a way for people to vote at the polls on election day through the implementation of social-distancing measures like one-way entry and exits, and limits on the number of people inside the building.

In recent weeks, municipal clerks across Alaska have been exchanging ideas for how to hold elections this year in a safe manner. Fullerton said she likes the method implemented by the City of Valdez, which held its local election on May 5.

Valdez encouraged absentee voting options including mail, electronic, in-person or through a personal representative. The city closed two of its three polling places on election day, and implemented social-distancing and sanitation measures at the polling place that remained open.

At present, the Municipality of Skagway is planning a strategy similar to Valdez’s for its local election on Oct. 6. Skagway municipal clerk Emily Deach said she plans to emphasize absentee and early voting options when she begins advertising the election in July.

“I want people to know they do not have to physically come to the polls if they are uncomfortable doing so,” Deach said.

On election day, Skagway will implement a mitigation plan at the polling place including disinfecting surfaces, limiting the number of people in the building, requiring workers to wear masks and encouraging the public to do so as well, and following any other mandates laid out by the state, Deach said.

Other municipalities are considering code changes to allow them to conduct elections solely by mail.

In Petersburg, the borough assembly is considering an ordinance that would allow a by-mail election to take place at the assembly’s discretion. If the assembly determines a remote election is necessary, ballots would be mailed to registered Petersburg voters and physical polling places would be closed on election day.

Juneau is considering a by-mail election conducted with assistance from the Municipality of Anchorage, which has been holding by-mail elections since April 2018. Anchorage municipal clerk Barbara Jones offered to let Juneau use staff and equipment at the Anchorage elections center to process ballots. Jones said Anchorage was able to operate the facility while adhering to social-distancing requirements during the municipal election held on April 7, 2020.

In a memo to the Juneau assembly dated May 13, municipal clerk Beth McEwen said she “strongly recommends” the assembly consider a by-mail election in partnership with Anchorage. If the assembly elects to move forward with this option, it is expected to cost roughly $174,000, nearly twice as much as a status quo election.

Municipalities that move forward with poll-based elections are likely to see some cost increases as well.

Wrangell Borough clerk Kim Lane said the current plan is to hold an in-person election in October.

“We will not know if we need to change directions until it gets closer,” Lane said. “We will most likely follow suit with what the state is doing, if possible.”

Before lawmakers left Juneau in March, the legislature passed a bill allowing the lieutenant governor to order statewide elections by mail if necessary, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“At this time, we are moving forward with planning an in-person election—recruiting election workers and polling places,” Alaska Division of Elections director Gail Fenumiai said of the August primary. She said the division plans to message the public about early and absentee voting options to avoid lines on election day.

“Other ideas are in early stages and not yet ready for release,” Fenumiai said.

In Haines, borough elections are scheduled to take place Oct. 6.