City and Borough of Juneau’s October municipal election is shaping up to be a low-drama affair.
Monday marked the end of the 10-day filing period for the upcoming fall municipal election to fill three Assembly seats along with two spots on the Juneau School District Board of Education. All the candidates who filed during the period are up for reelection in their current seats and all remain uncontested at the end of the filing period according to the list of certified candidates on the city’s website.
The list includes Assembly members Carole Triem, Wade Bryson and Greg Smith who have filed to defend their expiring seats on the Assembly, along with Juneau School District Board of Education members Emil Mackey and Deedie Sorensen who have also filed to remain in their seats, all positions are for three-year terms each. Mackey was the last to file for the candidates, being certified on the website just 30 minutes before the deadline at 4:30 p.m.
[Candidates file for this fall’s local election]
Though all of the candidates currently remain unopposed for the election, there still is a chance for a write-in candidate to file and run in opposition for one of the open seats said Beth McEwen, the CBJ Municipal Clerk.
“It’s the deadline for getting someone’s name on the ballot, but even last year we had two candidates after closing submitted papers to run as a write-in candidate,” she said. One of those candidates, Will Muldoon went on to win a seat on the school board.
If someone were to file as a write-in candidate for this October election, they would need to file as a write-in at least seven days prior to the election day and would need to submit paperwork as well to be eligible. From there, voters would have to legibly write the candidate’s name on the ballot for the vote to count.
[Midweek candidate filing update for this fall’s local election]
“It’s not typical but not unheard of, from time to time and we see it happen,” McEwen said of write-in candidates.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
