Residents who will not be in town on election day Tuesday, Oct. 3, or simply would prefer to vote early can come to City Hall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays through Monday, Oct. 2, to cast an absentee ballot.
Election day voting will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Nolan Center.
People who cannot vote absentee in person by Oct. 2 can contact the borough clerk’s office at 907-874-2381 to request a ballot by mail or fax.
Registered voters will cast ballots for two seats on the borough assembly, one seat on the school board and one port commissioner.
Gary Morrison is running unopposed for another term on the five-member port commission. Incumbent Esther Aaltséen Reese and John DeRuyter are vying for the one open seat on the five-member school board; the winner will get a three-year term.
Incumbent Anne Morrison and first-time candidate Michael J. Ottesen are running unopposed for two seats on the borough assembly.
Absentee voting is on the rise in Wrangell, increasing every year since 41 early ballots were cast in 2019 to 103 absentee voters in 2022. Last year’s total turnout — election day and absentee ballots — reached 602 votes, or 31% of registered voters.
Borough Clerk Kim Lane said turnout is heavier when there is a proposition on the ballot, such as last year’s questions: Do voters approve of the borough selling $3.5 million in bonds to fund school repairs (the vote was yes); do voters approve of $8.5 million in borough debt to repair the Public Safety Building (the answer was no); and giving the borough the authority to sell or lease the former 6-Mile sawmill property for private development (passed by a wide margin).
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