The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting last Thursday, Oct. 8, to certify the final election results from Oct. 6. Following a Canvass board meeting to review preliminary election results, it was found that a total of 483 ballots were cast and counted this election cycle, 419 on election day and 64 absentee.
Steve Prysunka was re-elected to mayor for another two-year term. Anne Morrison and Ryan Howe were re-elected to the assembly for three-year terms. Terry Courson was elected to a one-year unexpired term on the assembly. Gary Morrison was re-elected to the port commission for three years. Laura Ballou was elected to the school board for three years. Wrangell voters also decided in favor of Proposition One, which would remove Wrangell from the Inter-island Ferry Authority.
"We're up 3 percent this year from last year, in voter turnout," Borough Clerk Kim Lane said. "We had 485 total people vote, we had 1,981 registered voters. That's up 40 from last year, which I'm very pleased about. So our voter turnout was 24 percent, last year it was 21 percent."
There were some ballots that were not counted in this election, explained Lane. There were two ballots that were cast on election day that were not counted, she said, as the two voters were not registered in Wrangell. She went on to say that there were an additional nine mail-in ballots she sent out that were not returned, and another five ballots that were spoiled. Lane also said that there were 199 ballots that were not used at all.
After certifying the election results, the assembly also took a moment to recognize several outgoing elected officials. These include Bob Dalrymple, who served on the borough assembly, Port Commissioner Mark Mitchell, and school board members Beth Heller and Jeanie Arnold.
"It's so nice, in a country where we seem to be so divided, that our hometown can come together and do it [vote], and do it well, and get it done, and we can have a really high-quality election," Prysunka said.
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