Several rural Alaska polling locations face voter access issues

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - With Alaska’s primary election results nearly fully counted, candidates across the state now have a better understanding of their respective positions heading into November’s general election.

The election also revealed inconsistencies in Alaska’s voting access for some small communities.

Speaking to constituents Tuesday night about her campaign’s early success, U.S. House Rep. Mary Peltola stressed the importance of voting.

“Every vote counts, down to the last seven votes,” Peltola said. “And this is such a good reminder to us that we need to be thinking about November, making sure that we have a plan to vote.”

Peltola was referring to the information she had received that four communities in Alaska did not have polling stations open on Tuesday, and her staff assisted the community of Kaktovik at the very last minute in getting ballots printed so that seven people could vote.

The Alaska Divisions of Elections corrected Peltola’s statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying that on election day, two locations did not have polls open — Wales and Kaktovik. Anaktuvuk Pass was also not open for most of the day.

Still, the mayor of Anaktuvuk Pass, with assistance from the division, was able to provide ballots and a register, so the polling place was open for about 45 minutes.

Director Carol Beecher addressed the situation in a statement on Wednesday.

“On election day, the region calls every precinct to make sure they are open and everything is working smoothly. Unfortunately, despite best efforts, there are instances where election workers quit, or don’t show up on election day, leaving the agency to try to find others in the community to assist.”

Peltola’s communications director, Shannon Mason, acknowledged the representative’s mistake, saying Peltola “misspoke.”

Peltola leads the latest count by roughly 22,500 votes over Republican challenger Nick Begich, who has approximately 27% of the vote. Peltola holds about 50% of the vote and Republican challenger Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is third, at 20%.

Begich is in a similar — but better — position than in 2022 when he finished behind fellow Republican Sarah Palin and Peltola in the state primary.

He says the best opportunity to beat Peltola this time is for Republicans not to split the vote as they did in the 2022 general election.

“My commitment throughout the entire campaign has been if there’s another Republican that finishes ahead of me in this race, I will step out of the race, and I believe the best opportunity we have to replace Mary Peltola is to have a one-on-one, head-to-head contest,” Begich said on Tuesday.

Dahlstrom, who Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump endorses, has shown no inclinations to drop out.

“It’s too early to jump to any conclusion about first, second, or third, but I feel great about it, you know, talking with people and constituents, and this campaign has never been about finishing today. It’s been about going until November, and that’s my plan,” Dahlstrom said.

As reported Tuesday, the Eagle River Senate seat race is shaping up to be a competitive fight in November, with Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Merrick in a virtual tie with Republican challenger Jared Goecker, leading by just 43 votes.

Merrick’s challengers in the race have questioned her conservative values.

Other competitive races around Anchorage show incumbents trailing or in tight races with well-funded challengers.

House Rules chair Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, is trailing former Republican Rep. Chuck Kopp, 60% to 39%, in the District 10 race. Kopp was Sarah Palin’s Public Safety commissioner.

District 22 incumbent Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage, is in a virtual tie with Democrat and former educator Ted Eischeid for the Northeast Anchorage seat, with Eischeid leading 557 to 538.

In District 11, around the O’Malley area, fellow Republican Anchorage Representative Julie Coulombe has a slight lead on unaffiliated challenger Walter Featherly, who lost to Coulombe in 2022 by a little over 100 votes. Currently, Coulombe leads the race, 1,549 to 1,376 votes.

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