00                            SENATE BILL NO. 31                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the counting of write-in votes."                                                                    
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 15.15.360(a) is amended to read:                                                                   
04            (a)  The election board shall count ballots according to the following rules:                                
05                 (1)  A voter may mark a ballot only by filling in, making "X" marks,                                    
06       diagonal, horizontal, or vertical marks, solid marks, stars, circles, asterisks, checks, or                       
07       plus signs that are clearly spaced in the oval opposite the name of the candidate,                                
08       proposition, or question that the voter desires to designate.                                                     
09                 (2)  A failure to properly mark a ballot as to one or more candidates                                   
10       does not itself invalidate the entire ballot.                                                                     
11                 (3)  If a voter marks fewer names than there are persons to be elected to                               
12       the office, a vote shall be counted for each candidate properly marked.                                           
13                 (4)  If a voter marks more names than there are persons to be elected to                                
14       the office, the votes for candidates for that office may not be counted.                                          
15                 (5)  The mark specified in (1) of this subsection shall be counted only if                              

01       it is substantially inside the oval provided, or touching the oval so as to indicate                              
02       clearly that the voter intended the particular oval to be designated.                                             
03                 (6)  Improper marks on the ballot may not be counted and do not                                         
04       invalidate marks for candidates properly made.                                                                    
05                 (7)  An erasure or correction invalidates only that section of the ballot                               
06       in which it appears.                                                                                              
07                 (8)  A vote marked for the candidate for President or Vice-President of                                 
08       the United States is considered and counted as a vote for the election of the                                     
09       presidential electors.                                                                                            
10                 (9)  Write-in votes are not invalidated by writing in the name of a                                     
11       candidate whose name is printed on the ballot unless the election board determines, on                            
12       the basis of other evidence, that the ballot was so marked for the purpose of                                     
13       identifying the ballot.                                                                                           
14                 (10)  In order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in                                
15       the candidate's name in the space provided and fill in the oval opposite the candidate's                          
16       name in accordance with (1) of this subsection.                                                                   
17                 (11)  A vote for a write-in candidate, other than a write-in vote for                                   
18       governor and lieutenant governor, shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that                              
19       candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the                         
20       candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided.                                     
21                 (12)  If the write-in vote is for governor and lieutenant governor, the                                 
22       vote shall be counted if the oval is filled in and the names, as they appear on the write-                        
23       in declaration of candidacy, of the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor or                            
24       the last names of the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, or the name, as                            
25       it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate for governor or the                         
26       last name of the candidate for governor is written in the space provided.                                         
27                 (13)  In counting votes for a write-in candidate, the election board                                
28       shall disregard any abbreviation, misspelling, or other minor variation in the                                
29       form of the name of a candidate if the intention of the voter can be ascertained.