The Alaska Division of Elections has not continued a ballot dropbox program operated in coordination with the Municipality of Anchorage during the last presidential election, elections officials confirmed Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of absentee ballots were mailed to Alaska voters Oct. 11, and the end of the dropbox program means voters will either have to buy stamps or visit an elections office during working hours.
The size of the ballot means voters will need two “forever” stamps, costing $1.46 per ballot.
Elections offices are located in Anchorage, Wasilla, Kenai, Juneau, Nome and Fairbanks.
“Beginning next week, regional offices will be open 7 days a week including on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.,” said division operations manager Michaela Thompson by email.
“Additionally, voters can drop off their ballots at any early voting or absentee voting location during the locations hours of operation and then also to any polling place on election day from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.,” she said.
In-person voting will begin Monday at hundreds of Alaska communities, running through Election Day, Nov. 5.
Anyone can choose to vote by mail instead, but mailed absentee ballots must be requested. Unlike in Anchorage, Juneau and other municipal elections, they are not automatically mailed to voters.
You must apply by Oct. 26 if you want to have a blank ballot mailed to you. If you want to download and print a blank ballot, you can wait until Nov. 4. Ballots cannot be returned by email: They must be mailed or dropped off at an elections office.
If an absentee ballot isn’t dropped off in an office by Election Day, it must be postmarked on or before Election Day in order to count.
Because normal postmarking usually takes place in Anchorage or Juneau for mail sent from within the state, experts advise mailing ballots well in advance of Election Day.
Voters can also take ballots inside a post office and ask for them to be hand-postmarked if sent close to Election Day.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
