Legislature(2023 - 2024)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
01/26/2023 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Division of Elections 2022 Elections Recap | |
| Presentation(s): Get out the Native Vote. | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
January 26, 2023
3:31 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Scott Kawasaki, Chair
Senator Matt Claman, Vice Chair
Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Senator Kelly Merrick
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bill Wielechowski
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): 2022 Elections Recap from the Division of
Elections
- HEARD
PRESENTATION(S): Get Out The Native Vote.
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
MICHAELA THOMPSON, Acting Director
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation recapping the 2022
Elections.
MICHELLE (MACUAR) SPARCK, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Get Out The Native Vote
Bethel, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered the Get Out The Native Vote
presentation.
JULIE HUSMANN, Region V Elections Supervisor
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the issues she experienced during
the 2022 election.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:31:16 PM
CHAIR SCOTT KAWASAKI called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Claman, Merrick, Bjorkman, and Chair
Kawasaki.
^PRESENTATION(S): Division of elections 2022 Elections Recap
PRESENTATION(S): DIVISION OF ELECTIONS 2022 ELECTIONS RECAP
3:32:11 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI announced the presentation from the Division of
Elections recapping the 2022 election.
3:33:38 PM
MICHAELA THOMPSON, Acting Director, Division of Elections,
Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Anchorage, Alaska, delivered
a presentation recapping the 2022 elections.
MS.THOMPSON displayed slide 2 and reviewed the challenges and
successes of the 2022 elections.
- The division successfully conducted four statewide elections
- The June Special primary election. This was conducted
entirely by mail and the division sent out over 500,000
by-mail ballots.
- The August Special general election and the regular
primary election. These two elections were conducted on
the same day and on one ballot.
- The regular November general election
- To administer the 2022 elections, the division:
- Hired and trained in-office temporary workers
- Entered high volumes of data including the applications
transmitted from the permanent fund dividend automatic
voter registration process.
- Processed absentee ballot application requests
- Recruited polling place locations and staff and conducted
training
- Logic and accuracy tested all election tabulation
equipment statewide
- Organized shipping for the supplies and materials needed
in urban and rural locations
- Monitored the return and organization of election
materials
- Logged absentee and question ballots
- Supervised the bipartisan Absentee and Question Review
Boards
- Conducted two recounts
- Implemented the May Interim Redistricting Plan
- Updated voters and the voter database system to the
new precinct assignments
- Created new precinct maps, including an interactive
map on the division's website
- Mailed new voter cards to all registered voters
- Implemented the nonpartisan pick-one primary system and
the Ranked Choice Voting general system
MS. THOMPSON reported that 12 races went to tabulation in the
regular general election.
3:38:17 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked whether the changes in the 2022 election
cycle would be implemented on a long-term basis.
MS.THOMPSON replied that the interim plan for redistricting has
the potential to change, but the ranked-choice voting (RCV) and
the nonpartisan top-four primary system will be in place for the
2024 elections. The elections will be reviewed and evaluated
this year and that may affect future elections.
3:39:31 PM
SENATOR BJORKMAN asked whether the two recounts were conducted
by hand.
MS.THOMPSON answered no, the division used its tabulation
system.
SENATOR CLAMAN referenced the requirement to hand count certain
precincts within a district to ensure accuracy. He asked whether
that same hand-count accuracy check was conducted before a
recount.
MS.THOMPSON advised that the hand count was part of the state
review process which was separate from a recount.
3:40:44 PM
MS. THOMPSON displayed slide 3 and reviewed the changes that
occurred from 19 AKBE.
- Updated forms to reflect the new ranked-choice voting.
- Candidacy filing paperwork provided more information
about how to display political affiliation on the
ballot.
- DOE created new posters for polling places as required
by law.
- Polling place manuals and handbooks in election offices
were updated to include information about the new
pick-one primary and RCV.
- The ballot design was updated to include the required language
about a candidate's political affiliation. Information was
also included about how to vote the RCV grid.
- The election tabulation system was updated to reflect RCV.
- Voter education and outreach were enhanced with in-person
training and informational updates on the DOE website and
social media. Mock elections were included on the DOE website.
In 2022, multiple instructional mailers in English and Alaska
Native languages were sent to all households. There were also
radio and TV advertisements about RCV, absentee-by-mail
voting, and important dates.
- For election results, only the first choices from the ballots
were counted and tabulated on election night.
- DOE waited until the day 15 deadline to receive
absentee overseas ballots and then DOE determined
which races needed ranked-choice tabulation. The
tabulation process was broadcast on KTOO so voters
could watch.
3:44:34 PM
SENATOR BJORKMAN said he understood DOE's reasoning, but the
public was very frustrated to have to wait so long to start
counting. It didn't make sense to his constituents that DOE
waited two weeks to start doing any tabulation when it could
have been done as the ballots came in and were scanned into the
system. He asked whether he misunderstood the process.
MS. THOMPSON confirmed that DOE had to have the images scanned
into the system to do any RCV tabulation. Those weren't
available on election night for rural precincts. DOE had to wait
for those ballots to arrive at the elections offices,
particularly for the hand count precincts, and then they're
scanned into the system, all of which takes time.
SENATOR BJORKMAN said he understands having to wait for the
ballots to come in, but precincts on the road system can scan
the ballots. He asked whether it was true that DOE could do RCV
tabulation on election night for those precincts on the road
system that can scan the ballots. That way the public could see
the results based on the ballots DOE had received.
MS. THOMPSON said she wasn't sure that tabulation could be done
on election night, but it could be done earlier. It was a new
system and the decision to wait was the choice made for the 2022
elections.
3:47:33 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked whether that would be a regulation or just
a DOE policy decision for the 2022 elections.
MS. THOMPSON said she didn't recall whether it was in regulation
but she would follow up with the answer.
CHAIR KAWASAKI made a formal request for the information.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether there were any complaints about the
new ballot design or lessons learned for the next election.
MS. THOMPSON said the division had not received much feedback
but the ballot design was always reevaluated before any
election. DOE continually uses outside resources that talk about
the readability of ballots and how to make it easier to vote.
SENATOR CLAMAN said he heard accounts of people spoiling their
ballots by accidentally filling in the write-in bubble, which
might relate to the design. He asked whether she'd heard similar
reports.
MS. THOMPSON replied that she hadn't heard those reports, but
there were more spoiled ballots than usual, particularly in the
regular general election, so DOE would look at that design.
3:50:00 PM
3:50:00 PM
SENATOR CLAMAN asked what DOE considers a spoiled ballot.
MS. THOMPSON explained that it's generally when a voter makes a
mistake and asks for a new ballot. The spoiled ballot is torn up
and placed in a spoiled ballot envelope and the voter is given a
fresh ballot.
CHAIR KAWASAKI relayed a personal story about a spoiled ballot.
He asked whether there was a way to look at the spoiled ballots
and determine what might need to be changed for future
elections. He observed that analyzing the spoiled ballots from
the regular general election might be a good place to start.
MS. THOMPSON said the division would keep the suggestion in mind
as it looks for ways to improve the design and instructions
going forward.
3:52:33 PM
MS. THOMPSON turned to slide 4 and reported the following
statistics related to voter turnout:
• June 11, 2022 Special Primary
• Over 500,000 by-mail ballots sent
• Voter Turnout 161,773 ballots cast (27.55%)
• August 16, 2022 ,Special General and Regular
Primary
• Voter Turnout 192,542 ballots cast (32.16%)
• November 8, 2022 ,Regular general election
• Voter Turnout 267,047 ballots cast (44.38%)
MS. THOMPSON said there isn't a comparable special primary but
the 2018 August special general election and the November
general election races for governor do provide one. She reported
the following:
- 2018 primary election
- 115,727 ballots were cast.
- Voter turnout was 20.24 percent.
- 2018 regular general election
- 285,009 ballots were cast.
- Voter turnout was 49.84 percent
SENATOR CLAMAN asked what the turnout was for the presidential
election in 2020.
MS. THOMPSON reported that 361,400 ballots were cast in the 2020
general election, which was 60.67 percent.
CHAIR KAWASAKI mentioned the incidence of ballot rejections in
the 2022 election cycle because of late postmarks. He noted that
the procedure in Fairbanks was to stockpile ballots and then
send them in bulk to Anchorage to be postmarked. As it happened,
Fairbanks had a disproportionately large number of ballots that
were rejected specifically because of late postmarks. He asked
whether there was a solution for that.
MS. THOMPSON said one solution was for voters to deliver their
ballots in person to the regional office in Fairbanks. Another
solution, which was a recommendation before the election, was
for voters to take their ballots to the post office and have it
hand-canceled by a postal clerk working the counter. Those
ballots would still be batched and sent to Anchorage, but they
would already have been postmarked with the date the post office
received the ballot.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked about the possibility of having ballot drop
boxes like DOE implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MS. THOMPSON replied that DOE borrowed those drop boxes from the
Municipality of Anchorage which is an all-by-mail jurisdiction.
3:59:08 PM
MS. THOMPSON turned to slide 5 and relayed that voting on
Election Day took place at 401 polling places throughout the
state. There was also some absentee in-person balloting at
regional offices, airports, and other locations throughout the
state. She noted that 15 days before the general election DOE
opened about 165 absentee and early voting locations.
She asked Julie Husmann, the Region V supervisor, to speak about
her experience on Election Day and that night. She explained
that regional supervisors oversee the polling locations in their
regions. Region V covers the northern Kenai Peninsula Borough,
the MatSu Borough, Parks Highway, Valdez, and the Denali
Borough.
4:00:44 PM
JULIE HUSMANN, Region V Elections Supervisor, Division of
Elections, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Wasilla, Alaska,
stated that Election Day 2022 was similar to past election days.
The regional office had the same problems it had encountered in
past elections. This included precincts that didn't open on time
due to elections officials not showing up; election officials
arriving late to set up the polling place; and occasional
instances of ballots jamming in the precinct scanner. These
issues were all resolved in due course. Field workers were
available onsite to resolve ballot jamming issues. She noted
that a power outage occurred 15-20 minutes before the polls
opened but it came back at 8:05 a.m.
MS. HUSMANN relayed that some Kenai Peninsula precincts
encountered people outside the polling place entrance who were
gathering signatures for a local petition. The people left
quietly when they were informed that they could not gather
signatures on site. She said the largest difference in the 2022
election was the number of spoiled ballots. She attributed it to
voters being unfamiliar with RCV. She explained that when voters
received an error message when they put their ballots into the
precinct scanner, they were given the option to cast the ballot
or return the spoiled ballot and receive a new one.
MS. HUSMANN opined that overall, Election Day 2022 went well.
CHAIR KAWASAKI thanked her for her work and noted that voters in
Fairbanks experienced the same difficulties. His office
investigated some complaints but concluded that overall things
went fairly smoothly in the Fairbanks region.
4:04:00 PM
MS. THOMPSON turned to slide 6 to discuss the challenges
associated with rural voting. She made the following
observations:
- DOE continued to face issues in 2022, particularly related to
the logistics of shipping election materials to rural areas of
the state and then back to the regional offices and the
director's office.
- DOE held weekly meetings in 2022 with the US Postal Service
(USPS) to share shipping deadlines and to communicate concerns
about certain communities potentially not getting election
materials timely.
- USPS sent a list every week that identified the post offices
that were either closed for the week or experiencing staffing
issues because there wasn't a full-time postmaster at those
locations. USPS also identified the locations that would have
a substitute postmaster for the week.
- Poll worker recruitment and longevity is an issue statewide
but it is particularly problematic in rural areas.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked whether DOE had considered using regional
airlines in locations that routinely have shipping problems.
MS. THOMPSON replied DOE has utilized charter airlines to get
materials into certain locations, but that's not a solution when
the weather is the issue.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked whether the division had considered the
permanent use of ballot drop boxes on Election Day in rural
areas or at least rural hubs.
MS.THOMPSON said that has not been discussed, but she wanted to
point out that voters also have the option of taking their by-
mail ballot to a polling station on Election Day. Those ballots
would be seen as on time.
SENATOR CLAMAN suggested DOE look more carefully at drop box
options in rural communities that have problems with post office
closures, ballots not being postmarked on time, and language
access. He asked whether the division had the flexibility to try
that in the next election.
MS. THOMPSON replied that it's something to look into, but the
division would need to check with the Department of Law (DOL) to
discuss the legality of having drop boxes in those locations.
She also pointed out that people in rural locations could drop
their ballots off with the absentee voting official in the
community. Those ballots would be returned to the division when
the voting materials are returned and they would be considered
received on time.
4:08:49 PM
MS. THOMPSON displayed slide 7 and advised that her role in the
2022 election cycle was to oversee the absentee voting process
and program. This included overseeing sending out absentee
ballots through the US mail and electronic transmission. She
explained that all absentee ballots are reviewed by bipartisan
absentee review boards in each regional office. These boards
review all absentee ballot envelopes to verify voter
registration status, eligibility, and that the voter provided
the required information on the outside of the envelope. The
statute requires voters to sign the envelope, provide an
identifier, and have somebody witness absentee-by-mail and
electronic transmission ballots. She provided the following data
on rejected ballots for each election:
- For the Special primary election, 7,544 ballots were rejected
statewide. The rejection rate was 4.5 percent.
- For the Special general election and Regular Primary, 554
ballots were rejected statewide. The rejection rate was 2
percent.
- For the Regular general election there were 878 ballots
rejected statewide. The rejection rate was 1.5 percent.
- Common reasons for rejection included improper or insufficient
witnessing, ballot postmarked after Election Day, and voters
not signing the envelope.
- DOE reviewed the instructions after the elections and has
added more clear instructions.
- Voters can ask a postal clerk to hand cancel their ballot
before it goes into the system.
- Voters are encouraged to vote and mail their ballots as
soon as possible after they receive the ballot.
MS. THOMPSON provided data from the 2018 governor election for
comparative purposes.
- For the primary election, 450 ballots were rejected statewide.
- For the general election, 1,204 ballots were rejected
statewide.
- Half the number of people participated in the 2018 election
than in the 2022 election.
4:11:50 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked if DOE was able to review the rejected
ballots to determine whether the people were qualified to vote
and their ballots were rejected on a technicality.
MS. THOMPSON explained that when a rejected ballot is returned,
elections staff logs the ballot into the system and it's given a
count code. In turn, those envelopes go to the Absentee Review
Board where they're examined to ensure that the ballot was
rejected for a valid reason. The rejected ballots are retained
for a scheduled amount of time. DOE prepares reports for each
election to show the number of rejected ballots and the reasons.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked if there was a process to look at whether
the person whose ballot was rejected was a qualified voter.
MS. THOMPSON replied that there was no curing process in Alaska
statutes.
4:13:32 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI noted that the committee might take up the matter
of ballot curing.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether the ballot rejection percentages
were from absentee ballots alone or the total ballots cast
statewide.
MS. THOMPSON answered that the percentages are from the total
absentee ballots cast statewide.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether DOE had drawn any conclusions from
the large number of rejected ballots from the all-vote-by-mail
special primary election compared to the next two elections.
MS. THOMPSON said she didn't know for sure but the fact that
this was the first time many voters had voted an absentee ballot
likely was a factor.
4:15:30 PM
MS. THOMPSON turned to slide 8 to discuss the State Review Board
audit process for each election. She explained that a hand count
of five percent of the ballots cast from one randomly selected
precinct in each House district is conducted for these
elections. The precinct scanner is utilized. The board is
looking for discrepancies of over one percent. That didn't occur
in 2022 or any past election. The materials that were returned
from the precincts were verified. Accountability reports were
run from the early vote, absentee, and questioned ballots and
audited by the bipartisan Audit Review Board in Juneau. The
ballot accountability reports from polling place election
officials are audited for the number of ballots used and the
number of voters that signed the precinct register and then
compared to the number of ballots cast on the results tapes. The
board then looks at the result reported on election night from
the polling place results tapes against those reported to the
director's office.
The results from the hand-count precincts are compared to the
hand-count results that were entered on election night at the
director's office. The accountability reports from the regional
early vote, absentee, and questioned bipartisan review boards
are examined and compared against the ballots cast report. Then
the result reports from the regional counting boards that scan
the absentee, question, and early vote ballots at the regional
offices are compared to the results reported to the director's
office. After a review of the foregoing, the State Review Board
certified the elections.
4:17:40 PM
MS. THOMPSON advanced to slide 9 and highlighted the language
assistance provisions DOE provided for the 2022 election cycle.
- DOE provided language assistance for 10 Alaska Native
languages, Spanish, and Tagalog.
- Throughout 2022, DOE maintained a three-member Gwich'in
translation panel. Over 4,000 hours were spent translating
election materials to the various languages.
- Translations included instructions and new terms related
to RCV.
- DOE advertised its language assistance through public service
and radio announcements. This information included candidacy
filing deadlines, voter registration deadlines, absentee
voting accessibility assistance, and Election Day voting and
language assistance. This translated information was also
mailed to communities. For the special primary election, the
absentee by-mail ballot instructions were translated and
mailed. Information on how to fill out and return the ballot
was included.
- DOE's voter outreach in 2022 reached approximately 20,174
households with translated content. The typical outreach was
expanded to include translated videos and radio interviews.
- DOE opted to directly mail the official 2022 translated
election pamphlets to identified census areas. The translated
pamphlets were also posted on the DOE website.
4:20:00 PM
- DOE actively recruited bilingual outreach workers in
communities. These individuals provide language assistance to
voters before Election Day through small-group and community-
wide meetings as well as on an individual basis. The bilingual
outreach workers were either recommended by tribal councils or
had worked for DOE in previous elections. Recruitment and
retention of bilingual outreach workers was particularly
difficult.
- Bilingual poll workers are recruited from within the community
to help with language assistance on Election Day. She noted
that audio was also available on tablets in the polling
places.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked how DOE decided which households would
receive the translated election pamphlets.
MS. THOMPSON explained that census data and the Toyukak
settlement indicate where language assistance is needed.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether the division was still under
federal court supervision regarding language assistance
requirements stemming from a lawsuit several years ago.
MS. THOMPSON confirmed that the division still had to meet the
stipulations in the [Toyukak v. Dahlstrom] settlement agreement.
She noted that the division also prepares court reports for
those communities.
SENATOR CLAMAN requested she send the committee a copy of the
court report.
MS. THOMPSON agreed.
4:22:49 PM
MS. THOMPSON displayed slide 10 and discussed same-day voter
registration.
- Alaska statutes require a voter to be registered for 30 days
before Election Day, unless it's a presidential election. In
that instance, an individual may vote a questioned ballot. The
questioned ballot is returned to the regional office and the
Question Ballot Review Board verifies that the voter supplied
the required voter registration information. The ballot is
counted solely for the presidential race, and the voter
information is added to the voter information database for
future elections.
- There is no same-day registration available for the midterm
elections. If the voter were to vote a questioned ballot, it
would go through the question ballot process, but nothing
would be counted because the person was not registered 30 days
before the election. The individual's information from the
ballot envelope would be entered into the voter registration
database for future elections.
MS. THOMPSON highlighted that a registered voter who moves to a
different district and fails to update their residence address
30 days before the election may vote a questioned ballot at
their new polling location. The Question Ballot Review Board
would compare the previous address and the new address to
determine which parts of the ballot could be counted. She
provided examples.
4:25:08 PM
SENATOR MERRICK asked who had access to the tapes from the
precincts and how they might be leaked because she saw bloggers
produce copies of those tapes before the official results were
released on the division's website.
MS. THOMPSON answered that poll watchers may request a copy of
the tape when the polls close and there was no prohibition
against sharing that information.
CHAIR KAWASAKI thanked her for the presentation and advised that
the conversation about how to make elections better in the
future would continue.
^PRESENTATION(S): Get Out The Native Vote.
PRESENTATION(S): Get Out The Native Vote.
4:27:29 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI announced the presentation Get Out The Native
Vote.
4:27:56 PM
MICHELLE (MACUAR) SPARCK, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Get
Out The Native Vote (GOTNV), Bethel, Alaska, advised that she
sent her full written testimony to the committee for the record.
[The full testimony is posted on BASIS.] It fills gaps and
addresses things that were missing in the Division of Elections'
presentation.
MS. SPARCK stated that as a baseline, GOTNV applies the term
"rural" to House districts 36-40. This is the Interior, Bristol
Bay, the Bethel area, the Nome area, and the Arctic area, but
GOTNV also studies Southeast, Kodiak, Cook Inlet and CIRI
tribes, and any area with a recognized tribe or shareholder
base. The area is large but the population is relatively small.
MS. SPARCK paraphrased the following passages of her testimony:
It was a massive undertaking to help prepare and
inform the public for three statewide elections in six
months, especially with new election law in place. We
witnessed a new gold rush of candidates populating the
open primaries, overwhelming voters with dozens and
dozens of options for one office alone. We also had
our work cut out for us in having to help distinguish
the difference between a pick-one primary from a
Ranked Choice Voting general ballot.
Alaska voters also saw greater competition under the
new rules among the 59 legislative races on the
ballot. Twenty-two legislative contests had three or
more candidates, with roughly 200 candidates competing
for legislative offices at once, and that didn't even
factor in the yes or no decisions over the
Constitutional Convention, or a number of seats for
Alaskan judges.
Institutional Support
We could not have been very effective in our work were
it not for Lt. Governor Meyer and the Division of
Elections Director Gail Fenumiai engaging us in their
process. Such transparency enabled us to be a partner
in troubleshooting problems that often plague the
system, and invariably create barriers to voting for
Native and rural communities. We'd like to thank
public relations manager Tiffany Montemayor, Samantha
Mack on compliance for Elections Language Assistance,
Elections Supervisor of Region IV, Shannon (Rena)
Greene of Nome, and Melissa Medeiros, the customer
relations manager for the Alaska District of the
United States Postal Service for helping us understand
what we were facing prior to each election last year.
It is important to point out that Alaska's voter
registration and ability to vote via absentee is
probably one of the most accessible and enviable of
all 50 states. The ease of the automatic PFD and State
ID or Driver's License voter registration process is a
building block rather than a barrier to elections. We
sympathize with our Tribal counterparts in other areas
of the country, where registration drives take up so
much of their resources and often compromise
opportunities to educate voters on who or what they
may be voting for once they are registered.
4:31:35 PM
Voter Education
The Division of Elections and Language Assistance made
a very visible and vocal effort to educate the public
on what voters could expect in the Ranked Choice
Voting experience. Groups like GOTNV tried to parse
the information in a more regional, culturally
appropriate and relatable way. Published timelines and
sample ballots were invaluable in all our work in the
communities. You simply can't beat being able to walk
a voter through their district sample ballot. GOTNV's
modest community organizer program and training
program for Alaska Native organization staff provided
valuable boots on the ground for select communities.
Some Tribes, Corporations, and organizations took it
upon themselves or worked with us, and several
implemented their own long-term voter campaign
initiative and incentives.
4:32:20 PM
The Special Primary
With the passing of Congressman Don Young in March
2022, the time constraint of a special primary to meet
the statute of seating a replacement in the middle of
a term was a challenge. The June 11 all mail-in ballot
process and election deadline added a measure of
confusion for this unanticipated election.
The U.S. Postal Service irrefutably plays an integral
role in the election process. Roadless areas of Alaska
are at a disadvantage when it comes to voting, as the
staffing and training of election workers,
translators, and the air transport of election
machines and materials can be a daunting undertaking.
When there isn't enough resource to personally walk
voters through an electionas can often be found
through local polling stationstoo much gets lost in
translation with cultural and language barriers, which
can often result in an incomplete or improperly filled
out ballot. Statewide, there was a 27.5% voter turnout
in this unstructured voting experience with 7,504
rejected ballots, that's a 4.5% rejection rate. The
reasons were outlined as such:
• 2724 for having no witness signature
• 1897 for having their ballot postmarked after
election day
• 1556 for voters not providing one of many
identifiers required
Further, the election deadline was on a Saturday, and
many rural communities suffer from unreliable hours of
postal operations due to various extenuating
circumstances that can disrupt staffing for days,
weeks, or even months. Rural, which we typically
consider HD districts 36 40 (but we observe SE,
Kodiak, the CIRI/CITC region and other Tribal
community districts as a service too) had a mean
turnout of 18.55%. Ballot instructions were wordy, the
potential for mistakes were numerous, and cost some
1,194 votes, which means 15.91% of a largely Alaska
Native vote didn't count.
4:34:00 PM
MS. SPARCK emphasized how difficult the division's special needs
ballot was to navigate. She described it as an intimidating
docket that would invite mistakes from even a super voter. For
House District 38 that has primarily Yupik speakers, 13 special
needs ballots were requested and 8 were rejected, which is a
61.5 percent rejection. She acknowledged that it was not
intentional but for people with special needs or language
barriers, the layer of demands seemed to ensure failure.
MS. SPARCK noted that 4,526 more rural voters participated in
the August 16 statewide primary and special election than the
June election. She continued to paraphrase from her prepared
testimony:
August 16 Statewide Primary and Special Election
In the August 2022 primary election, approximately
30,000 more Alaskans turned out to vote when compared
to the June election. Voters encountered their second
pick-one open primary. In this election, voters could
cast their ballots early, absentee, absentee in
person, or same day. As a result, only 342 votes were
thrown out by election officials because ballots were
filled out incorrectly. Ninety-nine of those were from
our rural districts, 36-40. Voters also had to turn
the ballot over to participate in the special election
of the then three top vote getters from the June
Primary.
4:35:11 PM
GOTNV, GOTNVInterior, the Division, and other advocacy
groups like AFN, Native Peoples Action, First Alaskans
Institute, Native Movement, the ANCSA Regional
Association, the Alaska Native Village Corporation
Association, The Alaska Black Caucus, ABE and much
more, educated the public about the dual ballot, and
how to participate in ranking if they so choose. GOTNV
even produced an animated video on Ranked Choice
Voting using favored Alaska Native foods, which is
discoverable on YouTube and on our website at
www.aknativevote.com. We recently received a call from
a group in Hawaii, asking if they could use it to get
their voting public prepared for RCV trial runs in
certain elections.
In the lead up to August 16, GOTNV was fielding
requests from the Division of Elections to help staff
polling locations in some rural communities. This
collaboration is essential to attempt polling in every
eligible precinct in the state, but in the end, Holy
Cross and Venetie could participate only via absentee,
and 251 registered voters in Tununak and Atmautluak
were unable to vote at all.
4:36:02 PM
November 8 Mid-Term Election
21,923 voters from Districts 36-40 voted in the Mid-
Term Election, an increase of 6,819 more than the
August turnout. Trends indicated greater turnout in
each new election, so voter fatigue and an anticipated
weariness toward RCV did not seem to negatively impact
participation.
On Election Day, GOTNV received emergency requests to
help staff Nuiqsut and Teller. Through one of our new
board members assisting in their home district, we
were able to open the polls for a few hours. Nuiqsut
may have had a low turnout, but we helped make it
happen, and at a much larger average turnout when
factoring the reduced hours of operation. In August,
out of 283 registered Nuiqsut voters, 28 voted. This
time, 46 people out of 280 voted, giving the community
a 16.43% turnout.
4:36:40 PM
USPS and Division Disconnect
Unfortunately, Priority and Express services aren't
beholden to marketed guarantees in rural Alaska. One
example, GOTNV priority mailed voter education
materials from Anchorage on October 22 to Savoonga in
the lead up to the November electionbut it couldn't
be picked up at the Post Office by our Community
Organizer until November 29, some 38 days later, and
after the election.
Concern over timely election machines and ballot
delivery prompted us to reach out to the Air Carriers
Association through Ryan Air to see what we could do
to elevate election awareness and responsiveness in
their operations. Weather may not be something any of
us can control, but identifying this precious cargo
for priority loading and unloading helped us draft a
flyer as a visual aid for 200 flight agents throughout
rural Alaska. This is a service we intend to pursue
every election season.
Unfortunately, six canvas bags containing 259 ballots
from St. George, Levelock, Ambler, Kiana, Kobuk and
Noorvik had their votes only partially counted. While
their first ranked votes were shared with the division
on election night, the ballots were not returned to
the Division by November 30 for processing. While it
would not have changed any election results, it
reflects a pattern of access and close-out issues. Add
this to the disproportionately large number of ballots
from rural Alaska that were rejected in the June by-
mail special primary, and the fact that ballots from
seven villages failed to reach elections officials in
time to be counted for the August Special Election.
Platinum, a community of about 55 people, has "no
[USPS] employee on the roles," but the USPS advises
that residents can pick up their mail in Goodnews Bay,
11 water miles away. The bay is exposed and subject to
open water, freeze-up, rotting ice, storms, and other
conditions. Residents don't necessarily have access to
safe, appropriate, and affordable transportation for
those conditions, be it airplane, boat, or snow
machine. As this example demonstrates, the practice of
relocating mail services to a "nearby" post office,
one that is staffed and is open, actually does little
to ensure mail, and in this case ballots, are
delivered in a timely fashion.
4:38:30 PM
MS. SPARCK advised that her written testimony contained a full
accounting of the rural performance in all the 2022 elections.
While the data shows that the turnout increased with each cycle,
GOTNV and other organizations are committed to increasing voting
participation to levels that are above and even beyond the 50
percent threshold.
MS. SPARCK concluded her testimony with the following statement:
While the State of Alaska is impressively open in many
respects and recognizes us as voters, there are
systemic barriers that invariably taint our access.
And in some cases, when we even successfully vote, it
can sit in a canvas bag long after the race has been
called. Get Out The Native Vote and many of our
partners are here to help tackle these truly Alaskan
sized issues.
4:39:28 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI thanked Ms. Sparck and solicited questions.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked what takeaways the legislature should look
at to improve the next election.
4:40:00 PM
MS. SPARCK suggested the legislature:
- invite the postal service to comment because it is such an
important part of the process.
- hold discussions with the division about the potential for
using charter airlines.
- look into using the National Guard when foul weather prevents
charter airlines from flying.
- discuss the options for using drop boxes.
- look at the cost for voters to mail their ballots because it
can be an impediment for some voters.
MS. SPARCK expressed hope that the new division director would
continue the open door policy and let GOTNV and other Native
organizations help to improve access for all rural and tribal
areas and make the state's election process more efficient.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked Ms. Thomson if she wanted to comment.
4:42:23 PM
MS. THOMPSON said the testimony from Get Out The Native Vote was
helpful. She agreed that including the USPS in the discussions
and understanding its processes was key to getting election
materials to and from rural areas successfully. She also stated
support for maintaining partnerships with Native organizations
that have grassroot movements in their areas to improve
participation and the voting experience.
CHAIR KAWASAKI stated that he looked forward to the continuing
discussion.
4:45:18 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Kawasaki adjourned the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting at 4:45 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SSTA Presentation_Elections_1.26.23.pdf |
SSTA 1/26/2023 3:30:00 PM |
DOE 2022 Elections Recap |
| SSAC GOTNV Testimony 1-26-23.pdf |
SSTA 1/26/2023 3:30:00 PM |
2022 Elections Recap |