A ballot initiative proposing a law to make it easier for Alaskans to register to vote isn’t officially on the fall primary election ballot — yet.
On Thursday, Josephine Bahnke, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, clarified that figures posted Monday on the division’s website were preliminary and not yet finalized.
Bahnke said the division intends to complete the counting and verification of signatures for the PFD Voter Registration initiative by the first week of March, then submit the verification to Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who must certify the initiative as complete before it makes the Aug. 16 primary election.
The initiative in question proposes allowing Alaskans to register to vote or update their voter registration through a simple Web form that appears alongside the annual Permanent Fund Dividend application online. By clicking a check box, each PFD applicant may allow the state’s dividend division to share his or her information with the Division of Elections, automatically registering that applicant to vote.
