Wrangell sets record for early voting turnout

Wrangell voters have walked into City Hall in record numbers to cast early ballots for the Nov. 5 statewide election.

As of the end of the day Friday, Oct. 25, 147 people had cast ballots, said Sara Whittlesey-Merritt, who manages voting in town for the state Division of Elections.

“It’s been a record for Wrangell,” said Whittlesey-Merritt, who has been working elections in the community for 30 years.

The early voting numbers equal more than 20% of the town’s total turnout in the statewide elections of both 2020 and 2022.

Wrangell is not alone in the heavy early-voter turnout. Statewide, Alaskans are casting early ballots at a much faster pace than in 2020 or 2022, according to state elections officials.

If it continues at the current pace, the state will set a record, Carol Beecher, director of the state Division of Elections, said in an email to the Alaska Beacon last week. In 2020, the record year, 53,229 Alaskans cast ballots at early voting stations.

In addition to this year’s 20,001 votes cast through Oct. 24 at early voting centers, absentee voters — who cast ballots by mail, fax or at remote locations where instant ID verification is not available for advance voting — had sent 19,586 ballots to the division as of late last week.

Early voting opened Oct. 21. In Wrangell, 48 ballots were filled out on that first day, Whittlesey-Merritt said, followed by 99 more over the next four days.

Residents who will be out of town on election day, or simply prefer the convenience of voting early, have several more days to come to City Hall to mark their ballots. The temporary state polling place in the assembly chambers is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Monday, Nov. 4.

On election day Tuesday, Nov. 5, the polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Nolan Center.

All of the ballots, including the early votes, will be tabulated and totals released by the state elections division after the polls close.

Voter turnout in Wrangell has been in decline the past 20 years, dropping below 50%. The number of voters generally runs higher in presidential election years, such as 764 in 2016 and 732 in 2020 versus 685 ballots cast on the midterm election day in 2022.

In 2020, when the town had over 300 more residents than it does now, 1,028 voters went to the polls.

Voters are reminded that state law prohibits any campaign signs at a polling place or within 200 feet. That applies not only to the Nolan Center on election day but also City Hall during early voting.

The ban applies to signs or banners on vehicles, and T-shirts or hats or buttons, whether worn into the building or on the sidewalk or street in front. It also applies to vehicles parked within 200 feet of City Hall — no signs, bumper stickers or campaign flags.

Anyone who is voting by mail needs to have their ballot postmarked no later than Nov. 5; late ballots will not be counted. More information on absentee voting and sample ballots is available at http://www.elections.alaska.gov.

In addition to the presidential race, Wrangell voters will choose among candidates for U.S. House and the state House.

In the congressional race, incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola is seeking reelection. Her main challenger is Republican Nick Begich, who is trying a second time to win the state’s lone U.S. House seat.

There are three candidates in the state House race for District 1, which covers Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla: Jeremy Bynum, a registered Republican; Grant EcoHawk, nonpartisan; and Agnes Moran, nonpartisan. All three are from Ketchikan.

The Nov. 5 ballot also includes two measures promoted by citizen’s initiatives: No. 1, to raise Alaska’s minimum wage and require employers to provide paid sick leave; and No. 2, to repeal the state’s ranked-choice voting system for candidates, returning to political party primaries and eliminating the requirement that a winning candidate have support from more than half the voters.

In the second statewide election since the system was adopted, Alaskans can rank the candidates by order of preference — known as ranked-choice voting. If a candidate wins more than 50% of first-choice ballots, they are the winner. If not, the last-place finisher is eliminated from the count and voters’ second and third choices move up a place until one candidate reaches more than 50%.

 

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