Division of Elections struggles to get precincts to report from rural Alaska

By
Suzanne Downing
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56

The Alaska Division of Elections on Wednesday was able to report 15 of the 28 rural precincts that had not phoned in their results from the Nov. 5 elections. But there are still 13 precincts that had not reported their results by Nov. 6, and the Division has provided no explanation to the public.

“Good afternoon, we are posting results today that will include 15 more precincts that did not initially report on election night. We continue to try and contact our workers to get results prior to shipping materials back to the division,” the Division reported on Wednesday afternoon.

The results that did come in gave Rep. Mary Peltola about 550 more votes, but she needs about 11,000 votes to close the gap and achieve the 50%+1 that is needed to win reelection. Nick Begich, her opponent, only needs about 1,186 votes to reach the winning number to unseat Peltola.

It’s unclear when the Division will count more of the ballots they have in hand or even how many ballots they have that were not counted on Nov. 5 or 6. Those would include early votes cast from last Thursday through Monday, Nov, 4. About 3,700 ballots remain to be counted for the Senate Seat P (Fairbanks) seat, now being won by Sen. Scott Kawasaki. They include about 2,000 questioned ballots, 1,000 early votes, and 700 absentee ballots by mail.

Communication from the Division about the process has been subpar. There may be more ballots counted Thursday, Nov. 7, but there appears to be no guarantee.

The Division has decided to not release the raw data on any of the ballots that would give those candidates in ranked-choice races the opportunity to do they own analysis about where their race stands. This information is public information but is being withheld from the public by the Division for unknown reasons. The Division also withheld that information in 2022, the first year that ranked-choice voting was operating in Alaska elections.

Is Begich congressman-elect? A look at the numbers

56 COMMENTS

  2. Here we go just like I was saying your votes don’t belong to you. They belong to the system and now the system is going to determine who is the winner. That’s not the American way one person one vote not one person multiple votes to be taken over by the system And used the way the system wants.

  4. I’m sitting here in District 38 wondering where are the villages and what’s left to be counted before we head into the second round?

    There’s nothing I trust about the Division of Elections.

    They didn’t even get the comprehensive Voter pamphlet out to rural citizens until last Friday. ….Not a chance for any remote places too read about the Initiatives, Candidates and Judges before the political parties big push to get uninformed voters to fill out their ballot and mail it in, or in some places actually go vote early.

    I’m running against two losers from the primary that are collecting votes for any of the three Democrats heading to rank choice count offs.

    I’d like to know what’s left to be counted and wether I’m 200 or 300 votes to make up in the next round .

  6. “This information is public information but is being withheld from the public by the Division for unknown reasons.”

    I don’t believe it’s actually unknown….

  7. Just another reason to ban RCV.
    The division of elections simply cannot conduct a time sensitive election.
    Nobody will have faith in any government agency that fails miserably time after time.

  8. The PHO ballots from the election, left on flight 11/6/1024 to Nome for counting. Election booths were open until 8PM 11/5/2024. These ballots in the future, could be considered to be sent to directly to Fairbanks, or di Juneau for counting in the future to speed up the process due to transportation schedules and potential weather issues. PHO should also have voting supplies, as needed; sent out of the Fairbanks office, by truck if necessary, with the mail. Just a thought.

  9. As of 3:07 p.m. 11/6/24 YESTERDAY (!!) 390 of 402 precincts are reporting. 12 precincts are outstanding (why?!?). And 256,672 of 611,078 (<> only Murkowski has that power.

  10. Too busy harvesting ballots to phone in results. When they have enough to push through Peltola and Prop 2 they’ll make that call.

    • Manda–it is statistically impossible under RCV for someone to win with less than 50%. As the third and fourth placed votes are eliminated, only a binary result emerges.

  12. How can Dominion sue for billions in defamation damages when most states, including ours, are still using them?

  13. Precincts were supposed to call in their results at the end of the election night. If they did not call in, then they should not be counted! This is flat out election rigging.

    • Exactly. Set a deadline. If the reports are in on time, they will count. If they are not, they won’t. End of discussion. Maybe they will try harder next timr.

  14. “The Division has decided to not release the raw data on any of the ballots”

    Is this incompetence or deliberate?

    Dahlstrom could be the next Governor? Why would Dunleavy have anything to do with her, if he is for real a trusted leader for our state ?

  16. Where are the attorneys? These election discrepancies need to be held accountable in court now. This smells of fraud!

  17. We should have had a final tally on Nov 6. Your vote should be in by Nov 5 by 8PM. If not, your vote shouldn’t count. I have little confidence the Div of Election and their tech savvy. Let’s do a hand count of the late reported votes.

  19. The elections are rigged. Everything is fake propaganda. The BILLIONAIRES own and control their puppet politicians after they compromise them and have them in their pocket. That’s why the elections are rigged and there aren’t term limits- they want to maintain control

  20. Could we be seeing evidence of what someone’s doing to help RCV repeal fail by the tiniest bit so voters accept failure as an “aw shucks” thing and not try to repeal RCV again?
    .
    Why not cut to the chase, are we seeing evidence of election fraud committed by Division of Elections employees, contractors or “phone-in” persons?
    .
    Election results are already suspect when ballot audit trails disappear after the first round of RCV, and machines running on proprietary software are doing the counting.
    .
    So… throw in the Division’s policy of non-communication, “phone-in” tabulations, and the fact that: …”It’s unclear when the Division will count more of the ballots they have in hand or even how many ballots they have that were not counted on Nov. 5 or 6.”, does the situation not seem ripe for fraud?
    .
    No? What’s in place that prevents fraud under these circumstances, or does Division of Elections policy not allow voters to know that either?
    .
    Good reasons to petition a State grand jury to investigate Alaska’s election process for evidence of fraud, no?
    .
    Who knows, under a Trump Justice Department, the “Deprivation of rights under color of law” statute might begin to carry real weight, even in Alaska.
    (‘https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242)

    • Good food for thought Morrigan. There is so much wrong with this election in every district. There is serious incompetence / fraud going on in the Division of Elections. Where is Dunleavy and the Attorney General on this?

  22. All the more reason RCV needs to be buried. It is another ‘smokescreen’ for who knows what. So much bungling by the division of elections. The voter pamphlets not getting to people in time, website ‘crashes’ , lines so long for early voting, people that don’t have two plus hours to wait, didn’t. Now this, and then the hocus-pocus of the RCV will be ‘applied’ once all of the ‘votes’ are in.

  23. As a voter, I find it troubling that an entire department, meant to support rural communities, isn’t doing its job, it’s not just the Elections Office. There’s a division within the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development specifically tasked with assisting these communities, yet they’re falling short. According to their job descriptions, staff should be traveling to rural areas and guiding them through essential processes. But that’s not what’s happening.

    (‘https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/dcra/LocalGovernmentResourceDesk/WhoIsMyLGS.aspx)

    These employees are being paid to support local governance—things like elections, administration, ordinances, and planning. They’re supposed to provide on-the-ground help, training, and guidance on managing finances and personnel. Instead, many are working remotely and hardly ever step foot in the communities they’re supposed to serve. This lack of accountability within state government is a serious issue, reflecting a broader breakdown in the Division of Elections and the Department of Commerce and Economic Development. Another epic failure of state resources.
    Division Director is Sandra Moller email: [email protected]

  27. With communications as they are now, there is no reason small communities cannot get their ballots counted. The same with any absentees or early voting by Election night. The system is broken and needs a serious revamp. Alaska is a large state but with all the funds being spent on improving communications in rural areas, we should expect better performance from the Division.

  29. When I looked at the stateofalaskaelections website a few hours ago it was reporting 399 of 403 precincts or 99%.

  30. When I looked at the stateofalaskaelections website a few hours ago it was reporting 399 of 403 precincts or 99%.

  31. Count the ballots you have on-hand now. Today. I don’t care if you don’t have all of them. Since when is it right to only count ballots when you have all of them. We don’t have that requirement in ANY other state. Count what you have (legally cast, of course), and report the results. WHY? Because then the races will likely be outside of the margin of error, and we can MOVE ON! Count the ballots, please.

  32. How is it third world crap-hole countries with minimal education can conduct a nationwide election and have results on the same day or next but freaking Alaska takes three weeks?

  34. Can I just add my voice to the many Alaskans out there who view the Division of Elections, and how they count the vote, as a national embarassment. Surely it should not take weeks, or even a day, beyond election day. We should demand that our leaders get their heads collectively out of their (you know where), and get this fixed.

    Alaska used to be wrapped by election evening, so don’t tell me it cannot be done. If Dominion cannot make that happen in a day, it doesn’t belong in Alaska. This is ridiculous!

  36. Where is Dunleavy? In Florida kissing up to Trump for a cabinet position. Get home and take care of our screwed up elections.

  38. Dunleavy is ultimately responsible for this has his Lieutenant is in charge of this sham. It is absolutely shameful that they do not have a better process for this election. In 2022 they used the excuse that RCV was new and they were doing the best they could.

    NO MORE EXCUSES. WE NEED TOTAL TRANSPARENCY. DUNLEAVY IS A SPINELESS IDIOT.

    Trump would be wise to keep Dunleavy far away from his administration.

  40. I’m going to be a senior citizen before our local election gets finished counted. Why is Dahlstrom not doing her job, and she wants to be governor. If she can’t run Division of Elections she can’t run the State of Alaska.

  41. Sure seems like some heads should roll over all the mismanagement and lack of public transparency at Division of Elections. Carol Beecher, Division Director, and Brian Jackson, Elections Coordinator, need to be held publicly accountable. If Lt. Gov Dahlstrom and Gov Dunleavy do not do something about this, then they are complicit and also deserve to suffer consequences.

  43. State law for decades has required the DoE to allow 10 days for ballots mailed in America and 15 days from the rest of the world to arrive after election day. This is the state law. if you do not like the law, change the law.
    This law contributed to Dan Sullivan being the last 2014 newly elected Senator added to the US Senate. Therefore he was the lowest seniority of the 2014 class to this day.

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