By FRITZ PETTYJOHN
Thanks to the extended time to count all the ballots, Republican David Nelson beat the incumbent Democrat by 23 votes in House District 18, (Government Hill, JBER in East Anchorage.)
The same thing happened about 40 years ago, allowing my friend Rep. Terry Martin to squeak out a reelection victory.
The margin of victory in both cases was due to overseas absentees, most of them military. The Division of Elections allows extra time in order to allow all these late arriving ballots to be counted. For Republicans, it’s worth the wait.
These are mostly men and women who established Alaska residency while they were stationed here. When they’re transferred overseas, they maintain their Alaska residency. Many of them do this in order to continue their eligibility for Permanent Fund dividends. They all vote in order to bolster their claim to Alaska residency.
Their main issue, unsurprisingly, is the Permanent Fund. Since Republicans have always been the champions of the PFD (initiated by Republican Gov. Jay Hammond in 1980), and Democrats largely hostile, they all vote Republican.
Representative-elect Nelson should send them all a thank you card.
So, let’s stop with all the carping about the long wait. It’s only a problem if the good people at the Division of Elections need the extra time to steal an election. I don’t believe this has ever happened.
Some old-timers claim Gov. Hammond stole the Republican primary election from Wally Hickel in 1978. He only won by 98 votes. His Attorney General, Avrum Gross, was a little slippery, but I don’t believe the election was stolen.
All of us who worked on Hammond’s campaign (including me – I was Chairman of “Hands for Hammond”) like to think that our efforts were responsible for his victory.
And the PFD.
Fritz Pettyjohn’s first venture in politics was working for Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. He served in the Alaska Legislature in the 1980s and writes the blog ReaganProject.com.
So it’s sorta broke but went in our favor this time?
This attitude is why Alaska can’t have nice things.
Be honest, for once. The Democrats want the Perm Fund. Not the PFD.
And republicans are gonna do their best to give it to them.
Most Republicans in this state are actually Democrats who run in red areas. They know they would never get elected if they were honest so they wear a conservative costume until they get elected then put it away until the next election.
Disagree. Get your ballot in by election day. Have the count done 24 hours after election day.
Plan ahead. Be proactive. Get it done if it is important to you. Enough excuses.
I fully agree.
It is not like they are on the battlefield risking their lives atop Hamburger Hill that was never won.
The only thing won in that war was cash for the military industrial complex.
Those overseas have no control over the postal service….. no matter how proactive they are
Totally agree with you! 20 days later and we still don’t have all the counting done?
Agree!
Keen observations here, about present and past.
Thanks Fritz.
Yes, but it’s become ridiculous. There are better options.
Once again Greg, agreement. The simple solution is to set the last day to accept ballots as election day at close of polls. Simple enough. There is no excuse. If you don’t know when election day is, you just aren’t that interested.
Ya let’s spend it on a gas line and a railroad connection to the lower 48.
That might be a money maker. I’ve road trains all over the lower forty eight, and i’ve driven the Alcan, but I’d be first in line for a train ride.
Of course we should accommodate the overseas voters. But there is there any reason why absentee ballots cannot be required to be received by noon Election Day? We start ‘early voting’ weeks early anyway. We need to do a much better job getting our elections finalized.
Aw shucks, they’re doing the best they can – it’s the military, Gomer…
That’s dumb and dumber.
It is wholly unacceptable to take 15 days to count the ballots – it’s outrageous!
“The people must remain ever vigilant against Tyrants masquerading as public servants”
-George Washington-
Donewithit. I totally agree with you! Time for votes to be counted and finished on one day. If you need to vote by mail then get it in sooner! My perception is fraud is involved. Alaska politics are embarrassing Republicans need start demanding accountability and transparency in all things government We’re a joke instead of a beacon for other states to follow. A disgruntled Veteran living in a lefty city run by people that hate my values…….but like my taxes!
Try and analyze your way into a coherent position instead of making up something on the fly.
Waiting for absentee ballots is only one issue.
Waiting for rigged choice selection that takes three weeks to eliminate the prison inmate in New York who has never seen or been to Alaska and then reassign his votes to someone else is not acceptable.
But the millions of dollars being spent by people and groups that have never seen or lived here are hellbent on installing and retaining the phony sham.
George Soros is celebrating another victory and having a toast on us for being stupid enough to not see the sham.
$15,000,000 spent by Outside Dark Money (5 times what was spent by Peltola) and nearly $7,000,000 to install RCV in 2020 for Lisa Murkowski’s reelection. You’ll never convince me that they’re not after control of the Permanent Fund, the oil, the minerals, the fish – everything. Oh, and a new Blue state, all the way up the coast from San Diego to Utquiagvik.
Next we will be told ranked choice voting is a good thing.
Jay Hammond; now that man was amazing. I remember listening to him on the radio when he said, “the best thing about Anchorage, is that Alaska is only 20 minutes away by air”. And the communists went ballistic. I laughed by derriere off! I wish those days were still with us.
I strongly agree with Micah!!! Treat these elections as if it were a matter of a life with our country’s freedoms or a life of tyranny🇺🇸
Require in person voting with state identification unless there are verifiable sercumstances that prohibit a person from voting in person. I don’t believe it was the out-of-state military folks that were the majority of the mail-ins that were slow to arrive. The trickle in of in state rural votes was ridiculous and only makes many voters question the integrity of the rural vote.
” The trickle in of in state rural votes …”
Agree. There is no reason why some of the rural areas did not report anything, via any avenue for days after the election. Phones work, and even if there is no coverage, they get regular flights that could convey an envelope.
Keep it simple stupid…………
The kiss method is rarely NOT the best path. Basically unheard of. Especially in ANYTHING government.
Plan ahead, get back to “Election Day”
Fritz; listened to you on the Mike Porcaro show Thursday, I felt sorry for you.
Summarize; the Honorable U.S. Senator Murkowski is a keeper 😉
Excuses to not fix the devision of elections and clean up the voters rolls is lame, and it not because I voted for Hickel. The Mask is right, the democrats want the permanent fund for their incompetence.
I will not cease to harp. It is unacceptable. I also believe the cheat is happening outside of division of elections but the delay makes it easier. I don’t believe that many people voted ‘no’ on 2, nor do I believe Peltola got as many votes as she did. I even question some of the state legislative outcomes. There are so many ‘holes’ now in our elections with a very messy voter roll, ballot harvesting, mail in ballots, counting machines that there is no proof of trustworthiness, and now rigged choice voting that requires computer software to create an outcome. We have problems and until we straighten them out our elections are a mess. A month to determine outcome for such a small state is ridiculous.
How is it statistically possible for a large diverse community – to be split “right down the middle” by 1%, more or less – on multiple issues and candidates???
We are being played.
No voting machines.
Paper ballots.
Counts done on election night.
Victor declared election night.
Send the military ballots out earlier.
This is only hard – if you want to CHEAT.
Alaska has electronic ways to cast a ballot. Alaska sadly has mail in voting. I think every legal vote should count. I think voters need to express their will to vote by Election Day by whatever available means they choose. Be motivated if you want to vote. Send it by overnight mail.
If your ballot isn’t at a counting location, by 8:00 pm on voting day, your vote shouldn’t count!
There is likely some statutes the legislature can change and some regulations that need changing. Sooner is better than later.
This is the 21st century. We don’t deliver ballots by dog sled anymore. There are plenty of ways for those overseas (where I am right now and where I was on election day as a matter of fact) to vote before election day. No more excuses. Alaska is not the only state that has military members overseas, yet it is always the last to report election results. We need reform, not excuses. If those overseas (military or not) are only interested in the PFD and not engaged in the discussion of issues and candidates, we shouldn’t cater to them by allowing an additional 2 weeks beyond election day. Voting is a privilege and it should be treated as such
Counting–voting is a right guaranteed by the US and Alaskan constitutions. Not a privilege afforded only to a select group of voters.
Makes perfect sense.
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Fritz doesn’t believe election fraud ever happened, so it didn’t.
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Election fraud didn’t happen 40 years ago, so it can’t happen today.
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What looks, smells, sounds, feels like election fraud… isn’t fraud because Fritz says it isn’t.
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Alaska’s dead last to finish ballot counting only because no other state in the union, no other country on the planet, has to count “overseas ballots”.
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Who knew?
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“Harping”, Brother Fritz? This is but the overture. Do stay tuned.
I usually like Fritz, but the admission he worked for Hammond makes me wonder why he didn’t explain WHY most of those late-arriving ballots went Hammonds way? Just enough to squeak 98 votes.
And Wally actually WON his first court-case about the alleged election fraud, to be overturned by — guess who? — the state supreme court.
I was only a 1-year Alaskan then, so my memory is a bit hazy. Hopefully Fritz can tell us 1) what the basis was of Wally’s suit and 2) why the state SC overturned the lower court decision.
Fritz also is overlooking the rifle shots that disabled the electrical substation on the critical vote at the critical time of day about funding the capital move to Willow. Only a CHUMP would believe that was not election tampering. Or the pro-Lisa ruling in 2010 about write-ins — that directly contradicted the previous ruling that went against Hickel in ’78: that ALL ballots had to be written perfectly the same, first AND last name.
Fritz, come on my radio show and we’ll have a discussion. 3-5 pm, 907-283-5811.
LIKE!
The law is and has been followed, 10 days for ballots mailed in state, 15 for out of country. Unless and until enough people affect change then this is the system we have. We couldn’t even get rank voting repealed, if bitch8ng were the same as doing then it would have been repealed. If YOU want to affect change, tell your legislators, vote for legislators who will do what you want, start a ballot measure petition. Complaining here or on social media doesn’t affect change, get your friends and family to vote.
If it were up to me there’d be limited absentee voting, otherwise it would be in person voting with ID’s on election day, but what I want won’t get 50%+1 and it certainly won’t get enough legislative support to go to a vote.
Dragging out the count is, very simply, an invitation for fraud. Both the rank choice initiatives (initial and the repeal) went nearly two weeks with small leads for the opposition then hours before the dead line, the lead switches with only the narrowest of margins. Once might be enough to qualify as an outlier but twice has the stench of ballot fraud strong enough to knock a buzzard off a gut wagon. If you have two weeks to make up a 1200 ballot difference, how hard would it be?
No, Fritz, let’s NOT.
BREAKING:
The Alaska GOP has issued an official press release declaring their intention to seek a statewide recount and review. They will be using Dhillon Law Group, and have the backing of the Republican National Committee.
Hammond may have been registered as a Republican but he was a socialist.
People like Fritz ARE the problem.
Bet he got the shot AND he’s boosted.
He has too much faith in our overseers.
Dear Fritz, Let’s not! There is no d*** excuse for a state of less than 700,000 people to not have ‘all’ ballots counted within seven days, ideally 48 hours. Change absentee ballot due dates as required to complete within this timeframe.
He’s wrong. Military absentees are just a fraction of the votes that were counted late.
Pettyjohn is way off the mark. No one contends we shouldn’t count the overseas ballots. But as long as he brings it up, how hard would it be for them to vote earlier to enable timely delivery? Moreover, this argument is totally irrelevant. What we want is the “preliminary” count including 2nd and 3rd rank redistributions to occur the day after balloting. Just like since the telegraph was invented. We understand the results would be preliminary and subject to change. We can handle that; just like we have since the telegraph was invented. Withholding the results, which the Division has in hand, gives the appearance of impropriety. It makes it look like cheating is going on. Why would anyone want that appearance?
Pettyjohn is way off the mark. No one contends we shouldn’t count the overseas ballots. But as long as he brings it up, how hard would it be for them to vote earlier to enable timely delivery? Moreover, this argument is totally irrelevant. What we want is the “preliminary” count including 2nd and 3rd rank redistributions to occur the day after balloting. Just like since the telegraph was invented. We understand the results would be preliminary and subject to change. We can handle that; just like we have since the telegraph was invented. Withholding the results, which the Division has in hand, gives the appearance of impropriety…. like cheating is going on. Why would anyone want that appearance?
The GOP wins almost everything they wanted this election cycle, and still they whine and claim fraud. Spoiled children.
Winning does not make the election system suddenly secure, safe, and transparent. Suddenly changing one’s mind because the outcome fell their way once is what children… err… I mean leftists do. Not what adults do.
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The election system in AK is abysmal. it is ripe for fraud, and the gaping holes in security encourage those who would cheat to do so. That remains a fact even if the candidate I like wins.
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I would rather see my preferred candidate lose in an honest election, than see them win by cheating.
Never mind that you have zero evidence to support the existence of any fraud here in Alaska other than just saying it exists.
The ballots need to be delivered on Election Day I don’t care where they are coming from. How hard is this to accomplish.?? If you are out of country vote early.
Hahahaha that was a hilarious write up! It’s only good if your candidate wins? No, it’s is the worst voter rolls of all of the USA! Delete them all and start over!