Drivers honked their horns as a crowd of people wearing raincoats and holding coffee waved campaign signs at the corner of a downtown intersection early Tuesday morning.
Assembly candidate Neil Steininger said he wanted to get out during the morning rush hour traffic to make sure people remembered to vote.
“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I feel like we’re reminding folks that today’s the last day and I’m feeling like there’s gonna be a good turnout.”
Steininger is running for the open District 1 seat against another candidate, Connor Ulmer. There are also five candidates running for an open District 2 seat this election.
Alongside Steininger on the corner of the intersection was incumbent Mayor Beth Weldon. She’s running for her third term against challenger Angela Rodell.
“Well, I’m pretty hopeful that we have a pretty good voter turnout,” Weldon said. “We had a lot of early votes in, so I’m hoping today we’ll have a lot more votes in and I’m hopeful that I’m the winner.”
Weldon said she thinks voter turnout is going to be higher this year because of the Ship Free Saturdays proposition on the ballot. It asks voters whether to ban large cruise ships from visiting on Saturdays and on the Fourth of July starting next summer.
There are also two other less contentious propositions on the ballot. One is a public safety bond that asks voters whether the city to borrow $12.7 million to replace the radio system used by first responders, and the other is a wastewater bond that asks to borrow $10 million to replace critical infrastructure at the Juneau Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Randy Bates is a commercial and recreational fisherman in Juneau. He cast his vote at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library early Tuesday morning. He said the Ship Free Saturday proposition was top of mind for him.
“I’m not going to tell you how I voted, but as a recreational fisherman, I’ve got a partner who wants to go out on the weekends, on Saturdays, and these charter boats and these whale watchers are just overwhelming the waters out there,” he said.
On the other side of town, Heather Ramseth was dropping off her ballot in a drop box outside City Hall. She said she was happy to see such a robust ballot this year with new and returning candidates on it.
“I’m pleased that people are running,” she said. “I think it’s a really scary time to put yourself out there.”
Ramseth said her ballot included a mix of new and incumbent candidates, and she said she would not be voting in favor of the Ship Free Saturday proposition.
“It’s too hard a line just to say no ships on Saturdays,” she said. “I think trying to be more nuanced about our approach is important, and continuing to have conversations, even though it’s hard.”
The ballot also has two recall questions asking whether to oust Board of Education President Deedie Sorensen and another asking whether to recall board Vice President Emil Mackey.
Sally and Frank Rue were also at City Hall to drop their ballots in the drop box. Sally is a former member of the school board.
“I voted against the recalls because I do not think that’s a constructive way to go forward,” she said. “I understand how difficult the situation was, and I’m really happy I wasn’t on the school board then.”
The preliminary results of the election released Tuesday night only include ballots that were mailed in or dropped off before Election Day. Official results won’t be certified by election officials until Oct. 15.
