Early voting continues during final weekend before Alaska’s primary election on Tuesday

A final weekend of in-person voting is taking place at the Mendenhall Mall Annex ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, with the election station open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday. In-person early voting will also continue at the State Office Building from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday.

Election Day voting on Tuesday is from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On the ballot in Juneau are 12 candidates for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, plus three local state legislative races where incumbent Sen. Jesse Kiehl, and incumbent Reps. Sara Hannan and Andi Story are unopposed.

Alaska’s open primary system implemented in 2022 means the top four finishers in all races advance to the Nov. 5 general election regardless of their political party. The winners of state offices in the general election will be decided by ranked choice voting, also first implemented in 2022.

Only three of the U.S. candidates — incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola, and Republican challengers Nick Begich III and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom – are considered major contenders for that seat. Of the 47 legislative races outside of Juneau, only two have more than four candidates.

On Saturday at the Mendenhall Mall location, election officials Jackie Rosenbruch and Barb Murray welcomed voters and verified their documents before handing each person the ballot for their district. Even a youngster was handed a special green ballot so she could step into the privacy booth to vote with her father who had his official white ballot.

Ballots are available for all of the state’s 40 legislative districts for Alaska residents residing outside Juneau. Voters can also drop off by-mail ballots at the election stations.

Full official information, including sample ballots, is available at the Alaska Division of Elections website at www.elections.alaska.gov.

• Contact Laurie Craig at laurie.craig@juneauempire.com.