By PEDRO GONZALEZ
Last year, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough held its first election under Ordinance 22-119, which requires that votes be counted by hand in view of poll watchers.
The results came in without a hitch. Even though two teams of workers had to be hired to get it done, Mat-Su officials said that it was likely less costly than utilizing voting machines.
The success of that initiative inspired a similar effort to eliminate voting machines in the Kenai Peninsula Borough by a group called Liberty Action. It also resulted in some confusion—then clarity—about how election processes are conducted and changed.
In an email, Duane Edelman, Liberty Action’s Kenai team leader, told Must Read Alaska that this effort is about bringing “safety, integrity, and accuracy back to our local elections.” Edelman testified before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in May. He and more than two dozen attendees, many of whom wore orange safety vests, called on officials to revise the way local elections work. Key criticisms centered on the use of machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems.
Last year, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit for more than $787 million after Dominion accused the network of spreading false claims about its devices after the presidential election in 2020.
When he appeared before the Kenai Peninsula Assembly in May, Edelman asked the body to terminate its “voting agreement with Dominion.” The appeal followed a period during which Edelman said he studied how Mat-Su passed its ordinance.
In a nutshell, residents had regularly voiced their concerns at borough meetings and then enlisted the help of an assemblyman who sponsored legislation to eliminate electronic voting equipment. Assembly member Ron Bernier, the sponsor, said the initiative was a “reflection of the overwhelming interest for a call for election integrity from the people that have come up and testified at the borough.”
Edelman said his initial efforts were unsuccessful and suggested that local officials are indifferent toward election integrity concerns.
However, Mayor Peter Micciche told Must Read Alaska that there are misunderstandings at play about how elections are conducted in the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
“We only use paper ballots,” Micciche said over the phone. “We don’t have electronic voting.” Micciche noted that these ballots are then tabulated on a card that can be double-checked and said that he has backed legislation that is consistent with the goals of groups like Liberty Action.
“I passed an ordinance last year that required a higher degree of accountability with more hand counting than they were doing,” Micciche said.
During the May meeting, Assemblyman Peter Ribbens stated that he felt comfortable with how elections are currently conducted since the Nikiski precinct was one of the hand-counted precincts last year. Assembly member Kelly Cooper shared that she was an election worker and, like Ribbens, felt that the current system involving both hand counts and tabulation is secure.
When asked about criticism that Kenai officials aren’t taking concerned residents seriously, Micciche said that he encouraged them to continue working through the system.
“They have the right to a citizens’ initiative, and it’s a really great way to measure how the people of the Kenai Peninsula Borough feel about this issue,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. I assume they could easily gather the signatures.”
Edelman told Must Read Alaska that Liberty Action is preparing to do just that.
There are other reasons beyond concerns over transparency and accuracy to consider dropping electronic voting equipment. Namely, cutting costs.
Mat-Su had previously entered into an eight-year agreement with Dominion, leasing several machines for more than $70,000 per year. The cost of hand counting is estimated to be far less. Indeed, the borough anticipates saving money going forward.
Pedro Gonzalez has joined the editorial staff of Must Read Alaska. His success as a journalist includes contributions to Chronicles Magazine, American Greatness, and Newsmax.
Alaska doesn’t have a huge population! No reason! Why we can’t do hand count ballots! And have it ready that night early morning! Alaska doesn’t need counting machines we not that lazy!
“Mat-Su officials said that it was likely less costly than utilizing voting machines.” Here is the tell tale sign from the GOP, we didn’t actually look to see what the costs were we just feel that way. There is no fraud using the machines, but the GOP will do everything they can to delay the vote tabulation.
Well, the decision by the City & Borough if Juneau down this way to shift elections to mostly mail has been more expensive, yields results slowly and possibly increases opportunities for fraud a little bit.
The more expensive with slower results is particularly irritating to many voters.
Hand counting paper ballots in Alaska with our relatively small number of voters makes sense.
You don’t need to be a Republican to go for faster and cheaper. Common sense helps. Not enough of that anymore.
Actually, Cause of America has calculation sheet that is available to anyone to figure out the costs and how many hand counting teams are needed to get the hand counting done the night of the election. I may be wrong, but I think that just the cost of renting the dominion machines eats up a lot of the budget. Hand counting paper ballots is cheaper, can be done quickly and can be done LOCALLY – something not happening right now.
Define “freedom”. Communist “freedom” (not free) or American “freedom” (more free than communist free)…? Your buddy stalin said “it’s not who votes, it’s who counts the votes (dominion).
You have a blessed day, “comrade”. /s
“There is no fraud using the machines…”
How do you know that? These machines have been hacked easily, and election officials across the nation refuse to implement security measures.
.
Even if there is no actual fraud, the fact that security measures are not implemented, and everyone refuses to investigate in any way tells me that you cannot say there is no fraud. You cannot even say whether your own ballot was counted correctly.
.
So… keep the “no fraud” statements in the realm of reality. There is no investigation, no audits, no attempts to secure the machines. That leaves the door open for massive fraud.
Here’s some math for you, at $70,000 per year the Kenai Burrough could pay 200 Alaskan’s $350 for one day of work to count votes. Keep the money in Alaska and not pay some scumbag democrat voting machine company.
Just voted today in Eagle River and was shocked to see Dominion voting machines. Zero confidence that my vote will be correctly tallied. I’m for hand counting. We did it in Iraq in 2005 and that country has a population the size of Californistan
Any machine can and will be hacked! And the machines are not made in America or ran by Americans! Look back into Obama days! Lot of stories about the voting machines and wasn’t counted in America!
Yes they can. Years ago, I attended a computer forensics course while in the military. The instructor said the only unhackable computer was one with no keyboard, no mouse, no interface of any kind; sitting on the bottom of the ocean.
Using expensive Dominion voting machines for Alaska’s population is plain laziness. Less expensive hand counting is accurate and bolsters integrity. It’s past time for election officials to get back to work and count ballots by hand and do it right.
Borough Mayor Micciche suggests citizens could easily gather enough signatures to have a Measure placed on the Ballot asking whether the Dominion machines should be eliminated. The ballots would then be run through the Dominion machines, n’est-ce pas? Dominion will be tabulating the votes on whether or not to get rid of Dominion!
bring back Charlie Pierce, man did he listen to us citizens. hope Gov D drags him to DC.
Charlie Pierce? LOL. The man that when Enstar forced him to retire, they had police escort him out, and changed the locks. The sane Pierce that enstar employees held a “retirement” party at the Bridge Lounge, but neglected to invite him? The same guy who disgraceful left his kpb borough mayor job amidst harassment issues which were settled out of court at a cost of hundreds of thousand dollars to kpb taxpayers? ( yes, kpb residents do pay taxes, unlike many other alaska residents).
No thanks- I forgot one am glad he no longer lives in Alaska.
Faster, cheaper, and more secure.
I like it.
All Dominion machines are remotely controlled from China because they are connected to the internet. The fraud level is very high. And because NGOs are adding non citizens to voter rolls that only someone like Jay Valentine of Omega4America can expose using fractal technology. It is all being exposed now. Just look at what our Alaska Republican runner didnt do. She didnt get the change done to disconnect an automatic citizen assumption. SHE FLUNKED and contributed to fraud.
The patters looks like one side consistently has just enough to carry the day but the other side of the equation needs a couple of thousand… Then we fight cleaning up the voter roles and we need mail in ballots on top of that… If anyone claims something fishing going on… Well, we’ve seen what happens there in other states… +++
I seem to remember state election officials stating the reason that Dominion Voting machines were purchased was to save money. Now we are told they are more expensive than hand counting? Someone needs to be fired!
A lot of someone’s need to be fired.
For years I’ve asked why I can’t get a receipt showing what number voter I was and how I voted when using the Doominion machines in Los Anchorage…followed by laughter. The fact that the Anchorage assembly refuses to get rid of them and go to hand counting is all anyone needs to know about their “integrity “.
FYI:
Although not the same election system as the Valley or Peninsula, I queried the State election folks about how the State supposedly hand counts ballots.
Alaska claims they hand count ballots before certifying an election. When I asked, they told me that five percent (5%) of ballots are hand counted.
Well I am a average normal working person. 5% of the ballots IS NOT a representative sample. That leaves 95% wiggle room for mistakes and shenanigans. (In my humble opinion.)
We must do better. that starts by cleaning up our act. This behavior is only happening because us citizens let it happen.