One week to go in Anchorage runoff election; have you received your ballot?

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Suzanne LaFrance, Dave Bronson

Which will it be: One-party rule in Anchorage, or a balance of power?

The Anchorage mayoral race is down to the final seven days. Some voters are reporting to Must Read Alaska that they have not yet received their ballots in the mail. The Anchorage Assembly has the ballots printed and mailed from Washington State; they were reportedly in the mail from Washington on April 30.

(If you have not received your ballot and are a registered voter in Anchorage, leave a message on this article in the comment section below. Must Read Alaska is seeking to determine the extent of this problem.)

The runoff election ends May 14 — that is the deadline to have your ballot postmarked, in a drop box in Anchorage, or voted in person at one of the in-person voting locations noted below.

When your ballot does arrive, it’s a quick decision: Mayor Dave Bronson or former Assembly Chairwoman Suzanne LaFrance.

Bronson is supported by the business community and Republicans, although the Alaska Republican Party has not endorsed in this race.

LaFrance is supported by the AFL-CIO, NEA-Alaska, the Alaska Center [for the Environment], the Alaska Democratic Party and the dark-money 907 Initiative. Also, she is supported by Assembly Chairman Chris Constant and the leftists who control the Anchorage Assembly. The two finalist candidates were 473 votes apart in the April 2 election for mayor, when 10 names were on the ballot.

Anchorage runs mail-in elections but you can also vote the old-school way, by showing up in person. Election centers open Tuesday, May 7. If your ballot doesn’t arrive in the mail, voting in person is your only reasonable option. Although you have until 5 p.m. May 7 to request your ballot be mailed to a temporary address (if you happen to be out of town), it’s not certain you’ll receive your ballot in time.

The Application to vote at a temporary address will be posted on the Voter Information page around December 1 of each year.  Or call the Voter Hotline at 907-243-VOTE (8683) for more information.

Locate a secure drop box for your ballot, if you don’t wish to mail yours in via the U.S. Post Office. The runoff election has nine drop boxes far fewer drop boxes than the 15 drop boxes that the regular election had:

The certification for the runoff election is set for a special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on May 31.

38 COMMENTS

  1. People, if you have NOT received your ballot, You must go to the Loussac Library or the City Hall downtown. Get a ballot from them and then vote IN PERSON. THEN they will verify your signature etc.. then drop it into the box AT THE LIBRARY. I have registered with ballottrax.com also and they send you an email message letting you know when they have sent your ballot to you in the mail..after you have dropped it off at the library/City Hall after voting, they WILL ALSO send you a message when your vote has reached and counted at the election center. If the mail box is not getting your ballot out to you, YOU MUST go in person.. VOTE…VOTE…VOTE

  2. I received mine but that is probably because I am registered in a Democratic area. It is only the Eagle River and South Anchorage people whose ballot’s get lost

  3. Already voted and ballot is in the mail … for: “BRONSON!!!”
    “BRONSON” is clearly the best choice for Anchorage.
    “BRONSON” provides real and meaningful solutions.
    “BRONSON” represents Logic, reason, common sense.
    “BRONSON” acts as our Fiduciary, the best interest of citizens.

  4. Anybody passin the hat to help Constant pay for the bouquet of flowers for the overworked ballot counters down at Ship Creek Group’s election central???

  5. I throw it away & vote in person, that way the MOA can throw it away after they see who I voted for

  6. He call for fame is that she said she ran a small business, Google it she was a manager for AT&T. Oh she also had some work on a PTA . Why hasn’t any one called her out on this she is not qualified to be the Mayor.

    • She could not have been a manager for AT&T. Her first language is English. Yup, I said that.

    • What! A politician lied?
      Next thing you know, she will claim she graduated at the head of her class from a college she never attended, all while lifeguarding from the cab of a semi-trailer.

  7. Go vote in person and shred your mail in ballot! Of course, if military or out of state we understand! If out of state! Take some time and have ballet notarized with your signature!

    • Voting in person is basically meaningless.
      Yes, you get instant verification of signature, but your ballot is tossed into a drop box. Who knows what happens to it after that.

  8. Did anyone catch the interview with both candidates? Lol…you could figure out who was the adult in the room…while Bronson threw a fit like a little girl…
    Hire someone smarter than you…not a baby in diapers…

    • Missed the interviews.
      Was the adult the candidate that wants to put homeless shelters in every neighborhood?

  9. FYI
    In the documentary(Let my people go) by Professor David Clements.
    Did anyone notice, besides me, the documentary had a scene explaining why we as voters should use a black or blue ball point pen when we fill in
    the ballot. That way, not only is your mark made when you fill in the bubble but the pen leaves an impression on the paper as well. Do not use the felt markers provided.

    • I agree. Using a ballpoint pen, when you flip the ballot over, you can see the indentation on the backside of the paper. This indentation makes it harder to pass off a copied or computer-generated filled-in ballot as legit.

  10. Eagle River/Chugiak residents – vote like your life depends on it! We have the numbers to sway the election if everyone bothers to vote! Good grief- it’s requires minimal effort and has such a huge impact on each of us personally! VOTE! Let’s GO!

  11. I see the predictable claims of “voter fraud” being intimated at here even before the election is decided. Trump really has left a lovely legacy in that regard. I wonder what those same people will say if Bronson is elected? Does fraud only exist if the person you want elected loses? For some of the people on here that claim to love this country and our form of government, the level of cognitive dissonance is astounding.

    • Do you seriously think 100% mail in voting is secure in any way?
      .
      Let’s say that Bronson does get re-elected. I will still oppose with every fiber of my being mail in voting. I will oppose machine counting. I will oppose voting without a photo ID. I will oppose no-reason absentee voting.
      .
      I will support cleaning up the voter roles. I will support a requirement to re-register to vote on a regular basis if you have not voted in the past five years.
      And, I will support absentee voting with a valid reason.
      .
      It is only leftists and children (sorry to repeat myself) who change their tune depending on the outcome of the contest. (See the difference between the media coverage of the 2016 election compared to 2020)

      • I wont change my tune regardless of the outcome. However, most Trump supporters would and so yes, your claim is half right in that its only children and most Trump voters who change their mind depending on the outcome or claim widespread fraud regardless of a lack of actual proof.

        • Well, if a candidate wins, and you see something suspicious, say it. Demand an audit.
          .
          Seriously, let’s take the Biden/Trump election in 2020 as an example. Trump and his supporters say there were a lot of questionable things that happened. But, the folks who wanted Trump out claimed it was “… the most secure election, ever.”
          Any attempt to audit the results was met with lawsuits, and threats of criminal prosecution.
          .
          Now, if pResident Briben actually won the election with a seven million vote majority, and the swing states were really clean wins, why is he and his supporters fighting so hard to avoid any scrutiny? If I won that decisive of a victory over a first term President, I would welcome any and all audits to prove it.
          .
          Now, here is the weird thing. One cannot get any actual proof of any wrongdoing if they are prevented from even questioning the outcome.
          .
          If Bronson wins, and you think there was some fraud, speak up. Tell us all what you see and I will support you. Same with the Presidential election. See something, say it. Demand an investigation. Tell Murkowski to STFU and let the audits happen.
          .
          But, I doubt you will do that. Because, you are looking for proof. Proof. Not an investigation in to anomalies, but proof. Like that just appears, and without it, no crime could have happened.
          Tell you what. Maybe, I will steal your car. I will do it very carefully, so that there is no proof it was stolen. Your car will just not be where you parked it. That would mean, per your logic, that no crime happened. Your car is just gone. And, you would not demand an investigation because there is no proof it was stolen.

          • There were multiple recounts/audits done in several states and when it came to all of the lawsuits Trump started, many of them were thrown out by Federal judges as being without merit. As for the others which were decided upon on the merits, there were almost a dozen that were ruled on in which Trumps team just plain lost. The “evidence” provided by Trump failed to win the day.

            Take a look at the following cases if you don’t believe me:

            – Trump v Biden (in Wisconsin)
            – Trump v Wisconsin Election Commission
            – King v Whitmer (Michigan)
            – Ward v Jackson (Arizona, Maricopa County)
            – Trump for President v Boockvar (Pennsylvania)
            – Wood v Raffensperger (Georgia)
            – Bower v Ducey (Arizona)
            – Arizona Republican Party v Fontes (Arizona)

            However, I doubt that there is any evidence that would make you actually open your eyes to the reality of the business. Take heart though, as I predict Trump will win in 2024. I’m assuming if that does happen, you won’t be claiming fraud.

            • Recounts are meaningless. Recounting illegally cast ballots is meaningless.
              Where, except for Maricopa County was there an actual thorough audit?
              .
              The lawsuits were not thrown out for lack of merit. Lack of standing, yep, not merit. Added note: because of the anonymous nature of our elections, it is damned near impossible to get standing in a lawsuit alleging fraud.
              .
              “I’m assuming if that does happen, you won’t be claiming fraud.”
              That all depends. If 1/100th of the funny business that happened in 2020 occurs on election night in 2024, I will be calling for an investigation, regardless of the outcome.
              .
              Just because my preferred team won, does not mean there was no cheating. It needs to be rooted out, and stopped.
              .
              If you want to stop people from claiming there was fraud, secure the elections. Require ID, require proof of legal residency, get rid of no-excuse absentee voting. No drop boxes ever, anywhere. One day in-person voting with valid photo ID. Counting is to be done at the polling place where the ballot was cast, and ballots are to remain there until the election is certified. Hand count, with automatic recount by a second random person, no machines.
              .
              Get rid of the avenues for cheating, and you will shut up the people claiming fraud.

              • I don’t ever recall constant and persistent claims of widespread fraud at the national level for President until Trump lost. Now its a crisis? Your claims ring 100% hollow.

                Claiming something is different from proving it and I noticed you said nothing about the myriad cases I listed but that’s not surprising.

                • You write pretty well for someone who is less than 20 years old. Or perhaps you were in a coma from November 2016 through the end of the Meuller investigation. And, I am sure you must have missed the 2000 election, because if I heard “Bush was selected, not elected” one more time, I was going to scream. Then again, there are none so blind as those who choose not to see.
                  .
                  Myriad of cases proves nothing. Each case is different, presented in different jurisdictions, and not carried forward for reasons that are specific to those cases. A case that was not moved forward proves…. that case was not moved forward. Nothing more.
                  .
                  Claiming something?
                  So far, I have claimed that I will fight to ensure the election is as clean as humanly possible. Nothing else.
                  You on the other hand, seem to think that every election is absolutely above question in any way because there is no “proof.”
                  I wonder, what is your standard of “proof?” From what I can tell, it is a conviction, nothing less. Take a look at my analogy about your car disappearing and recognize the equivalencies.
                  .
                  Oh… and you toss out a lot of accusations that are, well baseless. Claiming that Trump supporters will turn a blind eye to fraud because he won is speculative at best. So, aside from trying to call half the nation hypocrites, you presented nothing.

      • You know what is funny about cman’s comment? So, the left says that those mail in ballots are 100% safe and secure, but we do not know the path of the ballot. YET, the left is raking the Repeal RCV petition books over the coals and claiming fraud. What is good for the goose, should be good for the gander!

        • I have zero objections to the RCV petition. If they can get a majority to vote to get rid of it, then so be it. However, I find it humorous that people have either been too stupid or incapable of reading comprehension to vote the way they desire, or the fact that Republicans are more concerned about purity tests within their own party to show a united front. Just look at Congress and the attempt to oust the Speaker. What an embarrassment.

  12. I dropped my ballot, along with my husband’s ballot, into a drop box on Saturday, 5/11.
    I’m still waiting on text confirmation that my ballot was received and will be counted in the election.

Comments are closed.