Alaska residents have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to vote in the primary election for the state’s four major candidates.
Here are three things you should know:
What are we voting on?
Tuesday’s primary election, in which candidates from all parties participate, will narrow the field to a maximum of four candidates per race ahead of the general election in November, when the ranked-choice primaries will be chosen.
Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, all 40 seats in the House of Representatives, and 10 seats in the Senate will be up for election in the primaries. But only three of these races will see candidates eliminated. Those races are:
- The 12-candidate race for the U.S. House of Representatives pitting Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola against Republicans Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom. The race is nationwide, so every voter has a chance to voice their opinion in the primaries.
- The race for Senate District L in Eagle River, where Republican Senator Kelly Merrick is battling four challengers for another term.
- The race is on for a vacant seat in the state House of Representatives representing the 36th District, which covers a broad swath of the interior. Six candidates are vying for the seat currently held by Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok. Cronk is vacating the seat to run for the state Senate.
Even in races with four or fewer candidates, primaries can be an early indicator of voter enthusiasm, and some Republican candidates have said they will withdraw their candidacy if they do not receive the most votes from their party colleagues. Most notably, Begich has announced he will drop out of the race for the U.S. House of Representatives if he is defeated by Dahlstrom.
You can find your sample ballot on the Alaska Division of Elections website. Ballots are available in English and, for some districts, in other languages – Chevak Cup’ik, Filipino (Tagalog), Northern Inupiaq, Nunivak Cup’ig, and six dialects of Yup’ik.
How do I vote?
On primary day, Tuesday, August 20, polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters must be at least 18 years old and have registered to vote at least 30 days before the election. The registration period for the primary ended on July 21.
If you are unsure where your polling place is or if you are registered, you can check the My Voter Portal on the Board of Elections website. This portal will also provide your state voting precinct.
Voters must bring identification to the polling place. This can be a driver’s license or identification card, military ID, voter registration card, hunting or fishing license, birth certificate or utility bill, government check, bank statement, paycheck or other government document that shows the voter’s name and current address, according to the Election Office.
On the ballot, you select one candidate in each race that you would like to see advance to the general election. The primary is not ranked choice voting, as is the general election in November, so make only one selection per race.
Many candidates responded to a questionnaire from the Alaska Beacon, outlining their positions on the issues.
Unless you specifically requested and received a mail-in ballot for this election, you must go to a polling place to vote. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, August 20, but may arrive up to 10 days later.
When will we know the results?
The vote count takes some time, especially since mail-in ballots can arrive up to ten days after the election. Nevertheless, a significant number of votes will be counted by Tuesday.
State election officials say the first results are expected to be posted on the elections department’s website after 9 p.m. Tuesday. The results announced Tuesday include votes cast in person on Tuesday, as well as early votes cast at designated early voting locations located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Mat-Su, the Kenai Peninsula and Nome.
Tuesday’s results will also include some, but not all, mail-in and absentee ballots. Mail-in ballots are a common method of early voting in many rural communities.
In the past, updates have continued until the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Election officials will continue counting mail-in ballots through August 30. As more mail-in ballots are counted, state authorities plan to release another batch of results on August 27 and a final count 10 days after the election on August 30.
The results will not be official until they are certified by the State Review Board, which the state expects to happen on September 1.
Keep an eye on alaskapublic.org for insights from this year’s primary elections.
Eric Stone covers state government, following Alaska legislation, state policy and its impact on all Alaskans. Reach him at [email protected].
