A petition seeking to repeal vote-by-mail elections as the default in Juneau was a “huge success” despite falling well short of the signatures necessary to put the question on the Oct. 1 municipal ballot, a leader of the effort said Wednesday.
An ordinance making mail the default method for City and Borough of Juneau elections was passed last May by the Juneau Assembly, continuing a practice from the previous three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But many residents aren’t aware of the permanent change, said Tammy Ness, the leader petitioner for a group of about 10 people who were seeking to put a repeal of the ordinance on the ballot.
“Every single day we would run into a lot of people — and I mean a lot — that were totally unaware of what CBJ had done,” she said, adding the 56-page ordinance also made numerous other changes to the process.
Five residents testified against the ordinance at the meeting where it was passed by the Assembly, some expressing concern about potential fraud. Ness said her concern was about the Assembly making the decision for permanent mail elections rather than letting voters decide the question.
“Even though we didn’t hit (the required signature) numbers it was really an education,” she said. “It was a grassroots movement, that’s how it started, and as people became more and more aware it’s like the word started spreading, and it’s like ‘Oh, no, this is not OK. We do want a voice and why are we not having a voice of this one thing?’”
Other concerns raised by those involved in the repeal effort included mail-in ballots arriving at residences for people who had moved away, in some cases many years ago, Ness said.
“People in the community are very concerned about it,” she said. “They don’t like the fact, it was very disconcerting to them.”
Local, state and national officials have stated following recent elections there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud due to mail-in ballots, machine counting or other factors cited by skeptics.
The ordinance still allows people to opt to vote in person at city vote centers and the Assembly can direct a local election be conducted in person.
A minimum of 2,359 signatures — one-fourth of the total voters in the most recent municipal election — were necessary to put the question on the ballot. Organizers of the repeal effort turned in 968 signatures that could be counted during their initial 30-day collection period, then another 963 during a 10-day extension period, according to a letter sent Monday by CBJ Municipal Clerk Beth McEwen.
“Even if every signature in the supplemental books was reviewed and approved, that still leaves 428 signatures less than the number needed to certify this petition,” McEwen wrote. “Therefore, this petition is hereby rejected.”
Ness said a key reason for not getting enough signatures was a slow start by people — including her — who were new to the ballot initiative process. She said she expects another repeal effort to occur, although she’s not sure she’ll be the person to lead it.
“I’m going to be looking forward to feedback from people throughout the community to see what they want to do,” she said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
