For at least one day, you can forget about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
In a year filled with contentious politics, today’s primary election will be somewhat sedate.
“It’s actually kind of a quiet primary down here,” said Brenda Knapp of the Tongass Democrats on Monday afternoon.
Juneau’s statehouse seats are uncontested in the primary, and unlike two years ago, when Ballot Measure 1 filled Alaskans’ eyes and ears with advertising, there’s no referendum to stir things up, either.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The biggest races on Juneau’s ballot are statewide. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski faces three Republican challengers in her primary, and so does U.S. Rep. Don Young. In the Democratic primary, there are three Democrats to challenge Young in November, and two candidates vying to challenge Murkowski. Two Libertarians are also squaring off in a U.S. House primary.
Two years ago, voter turnout was 35.6 percent in the Mendenhall Valley and 35.94 percent in House District 33 (which includes downtown Juneau).
All indications are that turnout this year will be below those figures. State Division of Elections director Josie Bahnke said Monday afternoon that requests for mail-in ballots are well below where they were last year, and that traffic at early-voting locations has been low as well.
That points to turnout on the order of 2012, when just 27 percent of Mendenhall Valley voters cast ballots.
Three polling stations change
From her bustling office Monday afternoon, local Division of Elections supervisor Lauri Wilson said two polling stations have changed locations since the last state election. In the Mendenhall Valley, a polling station at the library has replaced one at Mendenhall Mall. In Auke Bay, the polling station is at the Auke Recreation Center instead of the fire hall. In downtown Juneau, voters will go to the new Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum.
Any Juneau voter can vote at any Juneau-area polling station, but if the station isn’t the designated one for that voter, the voter has to cast a “questioned” ballot, which is counted only after the voter’s identity is verified.
Voters visiting Juneau from other areas of the state can cast absentee ballots at polling stations set up in the airport, the State Office Building and the Mendenhall Mall.
A telephone hotline is available for voters who do not know where to vote. Call 888-383-8683 for information.
Two ballots available
Because today’s election is a primary election, it is administered by the state but governed by the rules set by the parties. The Republican primary ballot is open only to voters registered as Republican, nonpartisan or undeclared. The other option is the A-D-L ballot, which includes candidates from the Alaska Democratic, Libertarian and Alaskan Independence Party. Any registered voter can choose this ballot.
Wilson said voters should be prepared to bring a photo ID to the polls, but if they don’t have one available, there are alternatives.
“If they don’t have an ID and they are personally known by the poll worker, then the poll worker can waive the ID requirement, but if they forget their ID and the workers don’t know them, then they can always vote a questioned ballot,” she said.
Bahnke said that although the division has been hard at work on new computer systems and better back-end equipment, those will be largely invisible to Election Day voters.
“We have a lot of internal changes that voters aren’t going to see, but polling places are going to go on the same as they always have,” she said.
Tallying results
Neither the Tongass Democrats nor the Capital City Republicans have scheduled any events to watch the results come in. The same goes for the state of Alaska, which earlier this year said it was eliminating all of its “Election Central” locations because of budget cuts.
That means Juneau-area politicos will be hitting “refresh” on the Division of Elections website and listening to public radio to get their fix of the latest results.
“I’ll be at home with my family. We’ll be tuning in to the radio or the internet,” said Rep. Cathy Muñoz, R-Juneau, who is uncontested in Tuesday’s primary.
She said she expects the night will be like it was when she was growing up and her father would turn on the radio to get the latest results. They would order take-out food from the City Café and listen to the news together.
“In those days, the returns came in all night long,” she said.
On Tuesday night, the polls close at 8 p.m., and the first results are expected by 9 p.m. The final Election Day tally is not likely until after midnight.
Like Muñoz, Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau, said he expects to watch the results from home.
“There will be an opportunity to kind of see where the electorate is going,” he said. “I’m hoping to see some support for the idea of the governor’s fiscal plan, and I think that will be manifest in who is elected.”
Justin Parish, who is challenging Muñoz in November’s general election, has his own plans for the day.
“I’m going to be going back to work at Floyd Dryden, then I’m going to be going out, knocking on doors (campaigning),” he said.
Juneau polling places
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Douglas Public Library
• Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum
• Northern Light United Church
• Bartlett Regional Hospital
• Alaska Electric Light and Power HQ (Lemon Creek)
• Juneau Fire Station (North Douglas)
• Auke Recreation Center
• Nugget Mall
• Auke Bay Ferry Terminal
• Mendenhall Valley Public Library
• Aldersgate Methodist Church (Cinema Drive)
• Glacier Valley Baptist Church (Mendenhall Loop Road)
• Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (Mendenhall Loop Road)
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Democratic options for US House seat
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Barbara Taug, left, casts an early vote Monday, Aug. 15, 2016 at the Mendenhall Mall as Judy Andree and Pam Walling operate the table. Alaska’s statewide primary is Tuesday.
