Voting in the City and Borough of Juneau municipal election is set to end in a matter of days, the city announced. Voting centers and drop boxes are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. Oct. 4.
Beth McEwen, CBJ municipal clerk said residents should continue to keep a look out for cure letters that might show up in their mailboxes in the coming days if an issue occurred with their original ballot. In a news release, CBJ stated that their new ballot processing center located off of Thane Road has already processed nearly 4,000 ballots, however, of that 4,000, just over 100 voters have been sent cure letters informing them that there were one or more issues with their ballot envelopes that must be addressed before the ballot can be approved for counting. McEwen said she urges people to follow the instructions in the cure letter to ensure their ballot can be counted.
This is the first year that by-mail elections are being conducted entirely throughout Juneau. In the past by-mail elections, ballots — and city officials —were flown Anchorage for counting. Ballots were mailed to all eligible Juneau voters on Sept. 13.
Voters have several options for returning their ballots, such as placing it in one of the two drop boxes located at the Douglas Library/Fire Hall or the Auke Bay Don D. Statter Harbor parking lot. Voters can also mail in ballots by Election Day, but are advised that the postmaster has stated anyone mailing ballots should be sure to check the pick-up times on the mailbox to ensure the ballot is picked up and processed on or before Election Day. Lastly, people can drop ballots off at one of two Vote Centers.
McEwen said once the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, the city will begin counting the votes and compiling preliminary results from then until Oct. 19. She said the final certified results will be released on that day, and noted any results announced before then are unofficial are await examination by the Canvass Review Board.
Vote Centers can be found at both the City Hall Assembly Chambers on Friday, Sept. 30 and Monday, Oct. 3 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m and on Election Day, Oct. 4 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Also at Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Friday, Sept. 30 and Monday, Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m and Saturday, Oct. 1 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., as well as Election Day, Oct. 4 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
At the Vote Centers voters are able to receive voter assistance, assistance with cure letters, drop off voted ballots or request and vote a replacement ballot, provided they have not already cast a ballot.
For more information, visit juneau.org/clerk/elections or call (907) 586-5278, option 4.
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com. Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
