About a quarter of Juneau’s registered voters have cast their votes in the by-mail city election so far.
By Thursday more than 6,000 ballots had been returned from 27,000 sent out in mid-September, according to the city.
Voters have until Tuesday, Oct. 6, to return their ballots, but they need to be postmarked by that day. Ballots deposited at one of the secure drop box locations at Statter Harbor or the Douglas Library must be in by 8 p.m.
This year’s ballot features three Juneau Assembly seats, two school board seats and two ballot propositions.
Most of those ballots returned so far arrived by mail at the Anchorage Election Center. All of the ballots will be counted and processed there next Friday.
This is Juneau’s first year conducting an election by mailing ballots to voters and having them return them either by mailing them back or dropping them off at a secure drop box, City Hall or one of two vote centers.
Last month, the Assembly removed a requirement that voters get a witness to sign their ballot envelope. Even though ballots say a witness over 18 must sign the envelope in order for it to be counted, voters now only need to sign the envelope themselves. That change was made after ballots were already sent out.
Last year, voter turnout in the local election was 31%, down from nearly 36% in 2018.
Anchorage saw record voter turnout in 2018, the year it held its first by mail local election.
Here is the city’s breakdown of where ballots had been returned:
