Mayor Dave Bronson has questions about how the most recent municipal election was handled — questions that were raised by election observers and citizens, questions that were never adequately answered. The mayor has sent a letter to Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones to ask for a forensic audit of the election technology and processes used during the April ballot counting.
Bronson asked that the Clerk’s Office retain all documents, emails, and other materials that are related to his request for information. Some of his concerns were brought up by volunteer observers during the April 5 election. The Assembly was made aware of the concerns by the observers prior to them certifying the election.
Specifically, the mayor is asking the Clerk’s Office to address:
Why an apparently unscheduled, unannounced visit of a Dominion Voting Systems technician, or third-party contractor for Dominion, was on site at the election center on April 19. A man named Whu Leung signed into the election center at about 9 am, and appeared to open, connect cables to, insert USB sticks in, and/or edit or update the software on the Dominion Voting Systems machine, according to election observers. This occurred prior to the certification of the election, and before all ballots had arrived for counting.
Who did Leung work for? What was Mr. Leung doing at the election center on April 19? What duties did he perform? Were those duties requested by an election official and if so, who and why was the request made? Which contract was Leung operating under? These are some of the questions the volunteer observers had that were not answered satisfactorily two weeks ago.
According to the Mayor’s Office, Leung inserted USB flash sticks inside the Dominion Voting Systems tabulation machine. What was on these USB flash sticks? Why was a flash stick required to perform the technical work Leung was onsite for? Did the Municipal Clerk’s Office conduct a background check or similar search of Leung before he was authorized to modify, edit, and possibly tamper with critical voting infrastructure?
The Mayor’s Office also wants to know why many voters didn’t get their ballots delivered at their homes and whether the Clerk’s Office kept a log of all voters who called to report they didn’t receive their ballots. What did the Clerk’s Office do to remedy the situation?
“In a particular observer complaint, filed April 3, 2022, Deputy Clerk of Elections Jamie Heinz stated that election officials may have identified an isolated issue where ballot styles 1941 and 1944 arrived late or did not arrive at all. The observer complaint also acknowledges that additional ballots of styles 1941 and 1944 were sent to the Loussac Library to account for this potential issue,” the Mayor’s Office wrote.
The mail-only ballots were supposed to be mailed to voters 21 days before the election. The Mayor’s Office wants to know if that occurred, because it appears many ballots did not arrival timely. When exactly were the ballots mailed?
There is also the issue of felt-tipped pens being used in the voting area of the Loussac Library on April 5, the final day of the election. The ballot tells voters to use black or blue ink, but dry-erase pens were made available at the voting station, where people could mark their ballots and drop them in a box. Those markers had a tendency to smear.
Observers also told the Office of the Mayor that there were a higher number of “undeliverable” ballots in the 2022 Regular Municipal Election compared to the 2021 Regular Municipal Election, despite fewer ballots having been mailed out. The Mayor’s Office wants to know exactly how many ballots were mailed and came back undelivered in 2021 and also in 2022, and what the rationale is for the difference in the two numbers.
The letter sent to the Clerk is an extensive public records request that has in bold letters at the bottom of each page a disclaimer saying the Mayor’s Office does not allege that the election results are inaccurate. The request is detailed and could take Clerk Jones several days or weeks to fill. It is likely Jones, who has a somewhat hostile approach toward the mayor’s team, will charge the Mayor’s Office a significant fee for the fulfillment of the public records request. Her office is under the direction of the Anchorage Assembly, not the executive branch.
Fire the clerk for derelict duty.
Actually and more importantly contact the assembly and ask them why they certified this election. The clerk works for them, so the “buck stops there”!
Agree
This vote by mail system must be shut down a quickly as it can be and in person voting system put back in place..!!!
AGREE! If anyone doubted election interference in 2020, they can certainly see now on the local level, how easily it happened on the National level.
I agree. The mail in voting is more expensive and rife with issues. If someone wants to vote by mail, they can request an absentee ballot. Everyone else can vote in person. Mail in is a solution for a non problem.
This is the chance for the adversarial clerk to prove how above board and reproach, and full of integrity the recent election was.
Or her chance to resist, overcharge, and slander anyone requesting proof all is good.
I’m sure the criminals are shaking in their boots.
Don’t take much to memorize the Hillary play book.
– I don’t recall
– I didn’t know it was illegal
– you mean preserve like with a hammer or a cloth or something?
– WHAT DIFFERENCE bla bla bla.
Corruption all the way around. To start with, mail in voting is a wide open door for fraud. Then add all the lackadaisical operations and gerrymandering by the clerks office and others ‘in charge’. What a circus. Lastly the crazy hoops that had to be jumped through just to become an observer as it is very apparent no observers desired.
Exactly! Mail in MUST go!
Who on earth wants to win phony fake rigged knowing what you have was not earned. Who on earth wants to take an oath to GOD knowing GOD is absolute & perfect and mock him in return. Who on earth would ban together and become corrupt a flock of evil doers, who on earth could take over America with a camera and some ill got power WHO OATH BREAKERS. GOD save us lord all we have is our vote oath breakers so help you GOD.
“Who on earth wants to win phony fake rigged knowing what you have was not earned”
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Lots of people would. The outcome is what matters to them, not the honorable fight. They are sitting in the chair, that is all that matters. It is why a 400+ ranked male swimmer suddenly decided to compete as a female. Now they are #1 ranked.
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They know they cheated. They do not care. In fact, they are likely laughing at the system that allowed them to cheat and win.
Of course what we will hear as a first response is ‘I can’t…It’s too hard…The records are already destroyed……’
The ‘Clerk’ is corrupt and has been since the inception of their employment.
Why does this individual still have their job?
Oh, right. They work for the corrupt assembly members, rather than for the citizens of Anchorage….
Unfortunately, the citizens of Little Seattle elected those clowns. You get what you pay for.
Karl the most basic question to ask: Did they REALLY elect these individuals?
There is a reason why Juneau has a building on the outskirts of town for election vote processing. Notice how just recently we have a new COVID spike, and a new “Bird Flu” crisis being drummed up? Here we go again.
Okay what now? What do we do has people has a whole group? To know!?
Now we have this election too? To replace Don young? ( bless his heart)
Replace til November!
Ballot is crazy nuts!
Preview of November. Welcome to The Third World.
This is a continuation of the right’s despicable attempt to overturn democracy. Sowing doubt can be very effective. Bronson is a traitor.
It’s a republic not fifty plus one mob rule democracy. Check founding documents.
No, Gunter, this is a continuation of the radical left’s corruption of the voting process, and their rabid “win at all costs” desire to seize control and exercise total power over us.
“Win at all costs”? Which party and which stupid marks fell for Trump’s Big Lie and tried to overturn democracy and violate the constitution? “Win at all costs”? Win what? Trump lost. Trump is a loser.
Which party spent 12 of the last 22 years complaining that the elections were illegitimate, illegal, or the product of foreign influence? Curious how that party refuses to do any investigation whatsoever when their preferred candidate wins. Regardless of how egregious the complaint is.
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As to the “big lie.” I find it interesting that there are literally dozens of oddities that happened on election night 2020, but the folks on the left never seem to come up with any reasonable explanations. They just claim “big lie!” and think they put the issue to rest. When the forensic audit in Maricopa county demonstrated some 50,000 votes were likely fraudulent, crickets from the left. What if those 50,000 votes were all for Trump? Don’t you that that would have proven the big lie? But… nothing. Gee… that is a curiosity.
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But, here is Gunter. Shutting down debate with “Trump’s Big Lie.” and ignoring anything else.
The Maricopa audit did not find 50,000 likely fraudulent votes. You made that up. The rest of you post is equally merit-less.
Once again, Gunter ignores almost all of the reply, and focuses on a single item. Typical troll behavior.
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And, I apologize for that error, was typing from memory when I should be checking the numbers. The actual number is closer to 107,000. The breakdown is:
* 3,981 voted despite registered AFTER Oct 15 deadline.
* 11,326 voted who were NOT on rolls on Nov 7 but WERE on Dec 4.
* 18,000 voted and then were removed from rolls AFTER election.
* 74,243 mail-in ballots w/ NO evidence of ever being sent.
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For the clueless, what that means is:
Almost 4,000 people not eligible to vote because they registered too late, voted (FRAUD)
Over 11,000 people voted that were not registered to vote on Election Day
18,000 registered voters disappeared after election day (not fraud, but an oddity that should be explained), and
70,000 votes were counted, that were never recorded as being sent. Again, not automatically fraud, but something that needs to be investigated.
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Perhaps it is just shoddy record keeping, but declaring “it is all a big lie.” without looking into it creates the distrust.
Gunter,
You keep reading the leftist commie news and seem to now believe their outright lies, you need truth.
The Democrat party is the party of evil – abortion even after birth, destroying our cities by supporting BLM, Antifa, who burned out cities throughout the nation, other democrat politicians who support thieir nonsense agenda to destroy all weve built, spending us (and our great grandchildren) into recession, creating fear amongst us all, loosing a biological weapon on us all and then adding more mandates to keep us in fear and lockdowns, creating mass educational directives aimed at our very young children to ensure they are “molded” to move against their own family (crt, sex education, anti semitism and anti americanism) having them pledge allegiance to the rainbow flag, values are for the planet not the individual.
The Republican party is the stupid party – less government interfering in our lives, family oriented, family first, America first, values the individual.
The democrat party is actively trying to destroy Democracy and blaming Republicans.
Look how they are succeeding, you fell for it, you are spewing their anti american sentiment.
As to our mayor, he is hampered every step of the way with people like you and the commie assembly nine members out to undermine every good deed he attempts in support of our once magnificent city.
Molly: I quit reading when you wrote that Democrats support “abortion even after birth”. Impossible at best, and at worst, an immoral insult.
The people you support are the ones casting doubt. If everything is on the up and up, just tell us what Mr. Leung was doing. If the elections are so secure, why are they limiting the number of observers? If there are no shenanigans, the Clerk should have no problem being completely transparent. No one who is doing the right thing needs to hide what they’re doing.
When something unusual happens, when there are unanswered questions, they must be investigated. Ignoring them is making a clear statement that it is OK to have oddities this time, and next time, we will turn a blind eye regardless of what odd thing happens.
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I would make the same statement if Dunbar, Zalatel and the rest of the leftists had lost, and these things had happened.
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Tell me Gunter. Do you think it is perfectly OK for a tech from the vote counting machine company to access the machines during a ballot count? Would you think it is OK for the casino to tweak a slot machine while you were using it? Would you think “nothing outside the normal here…” I doubt it.
CBMTTek: This situation is exactly what the Right’s pressure on election integrity wants. It sows doubt. Doubt is the same as evidence for low IQ, feeble critical thinkers. And surely, someone in your warren must recognize that the name Whu Leung can’t belong to an American patriot, right?
Trump set this up. Trump set YOU up! The rabid Right is so ideologically blinded that any damn thing beyond your teeny world view is proof of conspiracy. Jefferson, the burn bright and fizzle poster on the pages, is your mascot.
Gunter, your psychological projection here, so typical of you unhinged, gullible and divorced-from-reality radical leftist extremists, is literally off the charts.
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Woke physician, heal thyself.
Reading comprehension is not exactly your strong point, is it Gunter? I think I made myself pretty clear. If there is a question about the integrity of any system, it needs to be addressed, not ignored.
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Any complaint about election integrity MUST be investigated. A reasonable explanation MUST be provided. It does not matter to me who won, if the process is not transparent, open, and subsequently trustworthy, it is flawed, and must be improved.
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Do you know of a better way to dispel doubt? Do you really think ignoring these complaints, not fully explaining them is going to increase trust in the system?
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Let me ask you this. If Dunbar had made the same request, would be just as dismissive?
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And. what does a person’s name have to do with patriotism? “…that the name Whu Leung can’t belong to an American patriot, right?” is about the single most bigoted, prejudiced, and intolerant thing I think I have read in ages. I guess, Ilhan Omar is not a patriot either.
I offered that comment about Whu Leung to bait a MRAK reader into some racist froth. Didn’t happen. I’m just messing with you.
I notice you ignored everything in my rebuttal except the bit about Whu Leung. Curious.
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By the way, never admit to trolling, like you did here: “I offered that comment about Whu Leung to bait a MRAK reader into some racist froth.” it diminishes every valid point you make in the future.
Except I don’t care
Gunter:
If you do not care, why do you keep coming back here and checking the replies? Evidence seems to prove you actually do care.
Gunter, I find arguments like this intriguing. First and foremost we are NOT a democracy. We are a representative republic were all power rests with the people. Having a transparent and easy to understand election process is the bedrock of our republic. If we can not rely on unbiased and fair elections to demonstrate the will of the people, their voice in governing is extinguished. Election processes are a non-partisan issue. Hard evidence is not sowing doubt.
Mr AFH: I agree with your reasoned approach. But there never has been any significant election fraud. What’s the deal now? The answer is because Trump conned everyone into a frenzy. To claim fraud, to look for bamboo fibers, to fake some videos, to provide zero proof are all techniques to dissolve the foundation of truth by instilling doubt.
If the Right DID get an audit on every on of the thousands of elections in the country and if every audit DID prove no fraud, the rabid Right would not accept it. The rabid Right would challenge every single component of the audit.
The Right’s truth is defined by the Right and not by reality.
“If the Right DID get an audit on every on of the thousands of elections in the country and if every audit DID prove no fraud, the rabid Right would not accept it.”
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I would take that. In fact, I think that is a fantastic way to disprove the “big lie” you are so fond of bringing up.
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“But there never has been any significant election fraud.”
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Yes there has be, repeatedly throughout the history of the USA and many other countries. That is why we have laws written to keep the elections honest. Did you never hear about the tests blacks had to pass in order to vote under Jim Crow? Or the rampant fraud during the Tamany Hall days in NYC? Perhaps the Chicago political machine still in operation is unfamiliar to you?
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Please, share with all of us how you can make such a statement when history is rife with examples of election fraud.
Sorry, my statement wasn’t clear. I meant no fraud in the Trump defeat, not all of US history.
Sir, your incendiary language makes your comments less appreciable, as coming from a place of reason and logic instead of zealotry.
The first we heard of a “stolen election” or “election manipulation” was in 2016 when Mrs. Clinton claimed and continues to peddle this “truth”. There has always been attempts to manipulate elections going back to the founding of the republic. There was Tammany Hall in New York City a local political machine of the democrat party, or precincts in Chicago voting 100% for Obama in ’08 or locally boxes of ballots being discovered in the trunk of a car during the Hammond/Hickel race for governor.
While at this point no one alleges any malfeasance, it is important for irregularities to be investigated, especially when, as with mail in elections, the ballot chain-of-custody does not apply. Trust in the process is paramount and needs to be continuously earned.
Just because you can’t answer the questions doesn’t mean a threat is present. Stop the fear mongering.
“This was the most secure, fair, and honest election. Ever. Now sit down, shut up, and don’t ask for any proof. ”
Ok! You’ve convinced me! You’re the savior of a free and open civil society.
I predict a new lockdown/virus/war/cyber attack, just in time for the midterms. Don’t fall for it. And don’t comply.
The left is only following the old Stalin principle: “It matters not who votes, but who counts the votes.” About time to put as many checks and balances in place as can be done. The legislature is stalling on these, especially in the House, where the Dems rule. Time to vote these people out. Forget how much they bring to your area, looks at what they are doing to democracy. And don’t forget the installation of 1984 with the Disinformation Board at the national level. The Dems have shown their hand.
I’m not terribly surprised at the increased volume of returned mail after the pandemic. A quarterly research publication I receive just wrote in their latest issue of a similar phenomenon over the past year – significant increase in returned issues due to invalid addresses. A group I serve here in the state experienced a similar phenomenon when we sent out a mailer this spring – many returns, an outsized proportion from the elder population. One can only imagine the pandemic’s disruption, including deaths and inspiration to move. I did have one member of the group tell me his zip code was changed out from under him since we last recorded his info, so there’s potentially that factor too.
Anyway, plenty of other good questions that need answers. The right reaction to questions about election transparency and integrity is to to increase transparency and auditability to demonstrate integrity, not to tell a sizable number of people that they shouldn’t worry their pretty little heads about it. It’s dangerous when a group of people loses a few elections where they don’t believe they really lost. It’s in everybody’s long term interest to be able to “show your work” when you tell a portion of the population that they lost, and it’s not an unachievable bar.
By all means, improve election auditability and accountability. There shouldn’t be room for “hostility” from a role that’s supposed to be an honest broker in function. They should leap at the opportunity to prove the integrity of their work and provide recommendations/requisitions for improving the situation.
Once again Dominion Voting machines are implicated in alleged voter fraud! How can our Do Nothing Governor turn a blind eye to these election crimes in Alaska’s largest city? At the very least the AG & Lt. Governor should be offering Bronson any legal resources the state has to help investigate and prosecute these crimes against the electorate.
I’m waiting to hear more about the ballots rejected over their signature. Were people notified in time to fix the ballot? Were people notified at all? Did rejecting ballots make a difference in the outcome of the election? How many people had their right to vote taken away from them?
This wouldn’t happen with in person voting.
Could you place an article that shows where we can vote “in-person”?
Billy, sorry to tell you, but I went to vote in person in April and I was still told to put it in the mailing envelope and just drop it in a collection box on-site. No feeding it into the machine like we used to. They have every angle rigged. But yes there are some in person locations, for Eagle River/chugiak area I went to the Eagle River library.
The fastest way for the Clerk to clear this up is to be 100% honest and up front. If having a Dominion tech access the machines during a ballot count is above board, there will be a simple explanation.
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However, if the Clerk decides to evade, avoid, or fight against the request for information, that leads any reasonable person to assume everything was not above board.
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Putting aside any political bias is needed here. If my preferred candidate(s) won, and this was raised as an issue, I would 100% support the Mayor’s questioning the Clerk. Doing otherwise is questionable at best.
So the Democrat’s cheated again, is this really a surprise to anyone that isn’t a Dem? There is no logical explanation for a tech to go into a voting machines the day that votes are being counted, it’s corruption at it’s core.
Hypothesis? Evidence? Proof?
The questions are very appropriate. Also we would like to get a cimplete copy of the contracts the clerk has worked under and have them analysed and explained to the public. Is this asking too much?
You cannot service a voting machine during an Election without voiding its certification.
This Election is void as the machines were not immediately re-certified…
Insanity.
Worse..
Aw c’mon. How else can the Democrats win?
Mayor, it is within your purview to seize the tabulators just based on the observers notations. This is probable cause to believe a violation of voter law may have occurred. If suitable responses are received, they can be returned to storage otherwise a forensic audit should be conducted using the same folks used in the Arizona audit.
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