Fire alarm goes off at election office on key day for ballot counting

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On a day of counting ballots in Anchorage’s mayoral runoff election, a fire alarm went off at the Anchorage Municipal Election Office in Ship Creek Wednesday afternoon.

It happened minutes after Anchorage Assembly member Chris Constant signed out of the building, observers said. Constant has been working on the campaign of Forrest Dunbar for mayor; Must Read Alaska has no evidence to indicate Constant set off the alarm. He signed in at 1:40 pm, and signed out at 1:45 pm, and the fire alarm went off less than five minutes later, observers reported.

Ballots were just starting to be scanned when the alarm went off.

Four Dave Bronson for Mayor observers were in the building at the time, and three Dunbar observers. The building was evacuated for about 30 minutes, when no one was inside to observe what was happening. Firefighters arrived on the scene. The Election officials allowed one observer from each camp to do a walk through before the building opened up again for employees and observers.

During the time when the building was evacuated, one Bronson observer was posted on each of the building’s four sides to monitor activity.

The event was reminiscent of Election Night in Atlanta in 2020, when a water line supposedly broke, shutting down all vote counting operations and delaying the results from the state’s largest county, Fulton County.

Update: The cause of the alarm is now being blamed on a faulty smoke detector.

In other security issues related to the Election Office, Bronson observers video recorded a woman trying to enter the building with a box at 10:58 pm on Tuesday night, and several election workers still working in the building after 11 pm, although the Bronson observers had been told that work was done for the night at about 9:30 pm. Having left their observation posts, they returned to the building after 11 pm to find Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones and Deputy Clerk Erika McConnell leaving the building. Two others left the building at the same time.

To better ensure the integrity of the count, the Bronson campaign has relocated its headquarters to a recreational vehicle it has parked in the Elections Office parking lot, and the vehicle will be staffed by volunteers 24 hours a day, as the campaign seeks to more closely monitor what is happening in the ballot counting process.

Bronson family recreational vehicle has become HQ for the runoff count at Anchorage Election Office.

52 COMMENTS

  1. How does the old adage go…? “Where there is smoke, there is fire…”, somebody on the Bronson Team should ask to see the security footage of the building for that time period to be sure there was no “Help” with the ballot counting during the time of the Fire Alarm “event” and maybe even to be sure the alleged “Faulty” Smoke Detector didn’t have “Help” becoming faulty… Just a thought…

  2. “Nothing to see here”

    “ merely coincidence”

    “No evidence”

    Take your pick, shenanigans are afoot. Bronson observers left their post at 9:30 and returned at 11:00….. that’s you window of opportunity combined with false alarm today.

  3. Oh, like the water pipe that allegedly burst in Atlanta when Pres. Trump was winning by a landslide and the democrats had to back-fill millions of votes in the middle of the night to steal the presidential election. The devil only has 5 cards and he plays them over and over. They’re not even trying to hide it! Stay on them, Suzanne! You’re the only one who will.

  4. Bad idea whoever thought Constant presence should be anywhere near an election office. He so hot with confusion it triggered the fire alarm. Well there is was a real fire, Constant soul is on fire.
    Just as the Eagle soaring over the two groups, this is also another sign.

  5. Sowing seeds of doubt and conspiracy before the election is over, just in case your guy loses…

    Gee, where have we seen this movie before? This isn’t journalism, it’s provocation. Leave it to MRAK to set the rabbits running.

  6. I’m pretty sure that someone in the comment section actually predicted that something like this would happen. Do you see the pattern emerging here, Scully?

  7. The count should already be considered contaminated! Constant was there for 5 minutes and the fire alarm goes off? Amazing coincidence? Nonsense! Bronson workers leave at 9:30pm and then the Clerk and another person seen leaving at 11:00pm? Another woman seen with a box at 10:58?
    This defies all credibility!

  8. The greatest strengths and unfortunately the greatest weakness in our great system is the ballot box. Always has been, always will be. For the Democrats to ignore the dangers that could work against them in the future just because it worked in their favour this time is wrong.

  9. So the lie about the Presidential election being stolen, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, is now rearing its ugly head in new form in local elections. C’mon people, if all you can come up with is innuendo and vague references to stuff happening it’s time to take a deep breath and ask yourself, “how far are we willing to go to cast aspersions on the veracity of the election process.” Keep in mind that can work in both directions. What will you say if Dunbar comes up 3 votes short and wonders who was in the building and what was going on during the fire drill that affected the votes? Was there a mole? Or perhaps something was planted by someone somehow. Then he could claim he won by thousands of votes and the results are fraudulent. Sound familiar?
    Also, please recall that no evidence has been presented that disproves that Biden won the Georgia vote for the Presidency, after three recounts in a Republican run state election system.
    The Trump lies about election fraud live on. They could be the end of the Republican Party.
    Or the end of democracy.
    I’m not afraid yet, but I’m getting there.

  10. Remember the FD supported Dunbar. Here we go again get rid of these steal the election mail in ballots. Can’t trust Constant! Faulty smoke alarm, how convenient. Be ready for fraud following same book as Georgia and other states. Bronson should have been a slam dunk. Just like Trump was until they stole it.

  11. The fireman’s union backed Dunbar, did anyone check the pockets of the firemen before they entered the building?

  12. When the Republicans as a whole chose to ignore the anomalies in the 2020 election, they gave permission for those things to happen, and intensify.
    .
    Whether there was cheating or not in November 2020 is not the issue here. The fact that the media, politicians on both sides of the political aisle, and at least half of the public turned a blind eye is what matters. That alone told everyone so inclined to cheat in an election that they can do it, and get cover from the media and politicians.
    .
    Boxes of ballots showing up just in time to swing an election, no problem. Why ask for chain of custody, or any proof the ballots are legit?
    6,000 ballots in a row for a single candidate? Just ignore that statistically that would not happen once during the projected life of the universe. Yet, somehow it happened several times Nov. 3rd. But, ignore it. Nothing to look at.
    .
    The 2020 election was a primer in how to cheat in an election and get away with it. Even if there was zero cheating, the way to cheat was clearly displayed.
    .
    I have zero trust this election is legit. Even if the candidate I want wins, I still do not trust a mail in election. I do not trust early voting either. If you cannot be bothered to get out and vote in person (and prove you are who you say you are with a photo ID) you lose your opportunity to vote.
    .
    I am not trying to suppress votes, I am trying to increase the number of interested and informed voters.

  13. @ Greg R.
    You asked: “What will you say if Dunbar comes up 3 votes short and wonders who was in the building and what was going on during the fire drill that affected the votes?”
    .
    I answer: “Investigate it. Let’s pull security camera footage, and see if anyone entered, or was in the building during that time. I think a full audit of the machines is in order as well. Check the time stamps, and see if any of them were active during the evacuation. I would also want to confirm chain of custody was not broken at any time.”
    .
    Integrity goes both ways. I doubt you would be so sure the 2020 election was the cleanest one ever conducted if Trump benefitted from all the oddities.

  14. WtD & GR – Let’s not forget that the original “stolen election” allegations came in the 2016 presidential election with the cries of Russia collusion from the Liberals, Democrats and main stream media. This went on for four years with ultimately no proof, but that didn’t stop the nightly endless parade of bombshells, baseless allegations and investigations. Funny how perceptions change now that the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. I don’t believe Suzanne or most other individuals are directing accusations at anyone in particular, I believe we all just would like the system to be fair to all, the process completely transparent and the results trustworthy.

  15. Good grief what a mess. Mail in voting needs to end and old fashioned polling resumed. Also the ranked choice disaster. Get that back on the ballot. Both systems are costly and sloppy snd undermine election integrity.

  16. “In spite of all the evidence to the contrary”. If I hear that phrase again I will explode. You mean the evidence supplied by the gummit workers , democrat operatives., and rulings by democrat AG’s, democrat appointed judges that said over and over “nothing to see here.” If they can hijack a pipeline a voting machine should be a snap. Too many suitcases on film, too many mysterious fire alarms at key times, too many people caught staying late after sending people home after saying “we’re done”.. Now the playbooks that were written in Atlanta and Philadelphia look as if they might have Anchorage readers. Anybody that believes a 50 year loser who stayed in his basement, didn’t campaign , yet got 8 million more votes than Hussein Obama in 2012, will believe anything.

  17. What an amazing lack of discretion and foresight for either Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones or Deputy Clerk Erika McConnell to assume that they should be considered above reproach. Their presence in the facility without appropriate observers is an offense to the public trust that should come with a penalty. There is also no room in future elections for those that exhibit such a baffling lack of intelligence and respect in matters of public discretion.

    It is a further gaff that this entire proceeding may have been handled in a ‘welcome to 1960’ fashion without security cameras recording the entire process. Many Anchorage homes have a security camera array and they’re minimally important compared to the proper handling of an election.

    Such disregard for proper election process management is shameful and definitely discredits whomever these two women answer to. Their behavior should not go unrecognized.

  18. After I voted at my local Midtown precinct Nov 3, 2020, an election official who was present told me that, after polls close, results from the Dominion voting machine/scanner are uploaded via mobile/cell data. I’ve been pondering the implications of that method, esp. after all the bruhaha nationally re voting machines connected or not connected to the Internet, etc.

  19. After I voted at my local Midtown precinct Nov 3, 2020, an election official present told me that, after polls close, results from the Dominion voting machine/scanner are uploaded via mobile/cell data. I’ve been pondering the implications of this method, esp. after all the brouhaha and accusations nationally re voting machines connected or not connected to the Internet, etc.

  20. Read the header to your ballot. If you ink the the wrong oval accidentally you are supposed to strike a line through that oval and ink in your correct choice. However, you are not to sign or initial YOUR ballot. Any legal or important document I have ever been part to requires my initials to verify the change. The only thing needed for changing a ballot is having a blue and black ink pen handy. A machine will not read a strike through. Need 10 votes? Give me 10 Bronson ballots and I’ll have those corrected and in a box pronto. The ballot initials should be mandatory to the ballot. Period. It’s so High School.

  21. Well said, Greg R., but if you frequent this site you will know that reason and truth have no place here. It’s nothing more than a Conservative echo chamber where truth and logic take a back seat to ideology.

  22. How convenient, a Fire Alarm going off during the vote count of a hotly contested Mayoral Race. The leftist commenting above seem to think that anyone suspicious of the timing of this occurrence is a tin-foil hat wearer. My question is, how often does this Building have fire alarms going off? Frequently? Or only when the Party in Power is losing during a vote count?

  23. Greg R, Georgia never had a Forensic recount of the ballots. The kind of recount that is currently being conducted in Arizona. A recount that has been fought tooth and nail by the Democrats. To my knowledge Arizona is the only place in the USA that is conducting a Forensic Recount. The old adage garbage in garbage out applies to the Georgia recount. Both the Presidential and Senate Run off s.
    Stacy Abrams consent degree and fear of ANTFA riots scared the Politicos in Georgia not to do a forensic recount.

  24. Bronson is correct in watching the process and his opponent like a hawk. It’s no secret the Democrats have to cheat to win. The US census in measuring voters in the November 2020 election, something the census bureau is historically pretty accurate in doing, cannot account for five million voters. Yep five million more voted than the census can account for. Coincidentally it is fraudulent joes winning margin.

  25. Remember General Election night in November of 1982? One well aimed rifle shot at an electric insulator shut down the lights (including traffic signals during a snow storm) throughout Anchorage.
    There are an infinite number of ways to cheat an election, and it has been going on since elections were created.

  26. Greg R: Local elections are why I’m worried. We had a judge decide to change our absentee ballot laws so as to not disenfranchise TWO voters. Then we had another judge admit that many voters were disenfranchised when the Division of Elections failed to adequately update a polling place location change, but that same judge decided it was too late to do justice.

  27. This should of been the lead story for the “Alaska News Source”. I watch it on NBC at 5 and 6
    , myTV every morning and CBS at noon. Nothing, crickets. Even if was “nothing to see” it is something we all should be watching.

  28. Sounds like someone was trying to duplicate the same garbage that happened in several states in last Nov 2020 Elections.. What type of “BOZO” would dream of trying to duplicate THAT STUNT?

  29. To the individuals (you know who you are) “nay saying” and insinuating that this is all “conspiracy theory non-sense”. Need you be reminded of the four long years (2016-2020+) of perpetual conspiracy theories perpetuated on the American people by the democrats and main stream media starting with “Russia Collusion, then the Ukraine call and ending with the lies regarding the Jan 6th “Capital riots””. It’s important to remember that when you point a finger at another individual, there are three fingers pointing back at yourself. I think what most of us on this forum are after is simple transparency and trust in the election process and not simply accusing or vilifying the opposition.

  30. And… Despite the fact that I have challenged Greg R. to take a guess at how he would react had Trump and the Republicans benefitted from all the oddities on Nov. 3rd, still no answer. Funny that. This is my surprised face: ?
    ..
    @Manda:
    You are 100% correct. Who the President is does not impact me anywhere near as much as who the Mayor is. My day to day life is effected 1000% more by actions on the part of the Assembly and Mayor, than they are by the President.
    .
    Everyone needs to start paying attention to what the Assembly is doing, and start caring more about your Mayor’s actions, and less about tweets from the President

  31. Reply doesn’t seem to be working, so here goes…
    @WHIDBEY Thanks for the moral support. I’ll keep banging my head against the wall till something gives, either my head or the wall.
    @JOE DRAYTON Arizona is not doing a forensic recount. The REPUBLICAN state run senate hired a company of dubious ability and rectitude to come up with reasons the voting laws need to be changed so they can steal elections in the future by restricting voting. I will be stunned, surprised, and delighted if they find that nothing was wrong with the election. They are on a fishing expedition and they are expected to come up with the desired outcome. It won’t change the official, REPUBLICAN certified election results. It’s a fool’s errand, promoted by Trump and his lackeys.
    @DQ I am reminded of the numerous conspiracies plotted by the Former Guy and facilitated by his lackey Attorneys General and Senators that enabled Trump to lie and obfuscate his way out of criminal behavior he committed while President. Russian collusion was well documented by various federal agencies even before the 2016 election and continued on to the 2020 election. This is known. Trump’s Ukraine phone attempt to extort compliance from a foreign leader to improve his chances in the 2020 election was beyond reprehensible, as was his attempt to get his followers to overthrow the certification of the Presidential election. Trump is the slimiest of grifters, and he will keep on doing it as long as he can. For a reality check, substitute the name Obama or Clinton for Trump and rerun your apologetics.

    • Greg R. – I appreciate your comments. I’m sorry the reply doesn’t work well right now. I’ll try to get it fixed soon. – sd

  32. @WHIDBEY
    It’s not looking good for my head…
    – Yeah Trump and conservatives are obviously living there rent free… 🙂

  33. @WHIDBEY
    It’s not looking good for my head…
    – Yeah Trump and conservatives are obviously living there rent free… 🙂

  34. SD, that is not all that is broken. I tried to post yesterday and got lots of odd errors (finding that things are quite buggy in general–never posted before).

    • Thank you for that intel. I don’t have a webmaster, per se. I’ll work on it. – sd

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