4 Special Coverage

About 600 Juneau residents may have accidentally been sent two ballots for the upcoming municipal election. That’s due to a miscommunication between the city and the company that prints and mails the municipal ballots, city officials said. 

The Municipal Clerk’s Office, which runs municipal elections, announced the mistake Wednesday afternoon. Andi Hirsh, a deputy clerk for the City and Borough of Juneau, said the office became aware of the issue after people started calling in about it soon after ballots were sent out on Sept. 12.

“This won’t happen again. I’m not worried about this,” she said. “People are not going to be able to vote twice even though they got two ballots.”

Hirsh said the city believes the error happened after the company that prints and mails the city’s ballots, K&H Printers, didn’t discard the ones for voters who had updated their voter registration or submitted a questioned ballot in the State Primary Election in August.

Hirsh said that those who do receive two ballots should vote only one of them, and destroy the other. She said you can do that by simply ripping it up and disposing of it. 

And, despite the error, she said people won’t be able to vote twice. CBJ Elections has protocols in place to ensure only one ballot from a voter is accepted. 

“We have a bunch of processes in place to make sure that it’s secure. And a lot of those, I think people don’t necessarily see but I just want people to know that they’re there and they were in place before this, and they’ll stay in place after this,” she said.

Hirsch said people can call the clerk’s office with any questions or concerns about the ballots. She said the city plans to look further into what caused the issue after the election concludes. 

Voters have a few ways to return their ballots. The city has ballot drop boxes in different locations throughout the borough. Voters can also mail the ballot, or go to one of the two vote centers in town. Ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, which is Tuesday, Oct. 1. 

Juneau Assembly and mayoral candidates running in the Oct. 1 election answer questions about local issues during the 2024 League of Women Voters Assembly forum.

KTOO’s Clarise Larson and the Juneau Empire’s Mark Sabbatini moderate the live forum.

School board candidates will participate in a forum on Wednesday. Come in person to KTOO’s studio, watch live on KTOO 360TV or listen live on KTOO 104.3 FM and KAUK 91.7 FM starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Find more elections coverage — including candidate profiles — at ktoo.org/elections. 

Alaska’s first ranked choice presidential election will include eight candidates, according to the final roster approved by the Alaska Division of Elections.

Because Alaska’s top-four primary election doesn’t apply to the presidential race, voters will be able to rank all eight options if they choose to do so.

The first ballots for the Nov. 5 general election are already being printed and are scheduled for mailing to international voters starting Friday.

On the front of the ballot are eight options for president:

• Democratic candidate Kamala Harris
• Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Libertarian Chase Oliver
• American Solidarity Party nominee Peter Sonski
• Independent Jill Stein
• Constitution Party nominee Randall Terry
• Republican candidate Donald Trump
• Aurora Party nominee Cornel West

Kennedy announced in August that he would be suspending his presidential campaign and that he was endorsing Trump, but his campaign failed to remove his name from Alaska’s ballot after the August primary election.

Nationally, Stein is the Green Party’s presidential candidate; the Green Party of Alaska is unaffiliated with the national Green Party.

Alaska will be the second state to use ranked choice voting in a presidential election, following Maine’s experience in 2020.

But Maine’s experience is incomplete; its 2020 election didn’t need to use ranked choice tabulation because the winners of that election had at least 50% of the vote.

In Maine, as in Alaska, if a candidate earns more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they win without a need for ranked choice tabulation.

Maine distributes its Electoral College votes by congressional district and by statewide vote. In 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden won the statewide vote — worth two Electoral College votes — and one of the state’s congressional districts, while Republican candidate Donald Trump won the other congressional district.

In every one of Alaska’s presidential elections since 1992, the winner of the state has earned more than 50% of the overall vote.

Four years ago, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won Alaska’s three Electoral College votes after earning 52.8% of the state’s presidential votes. Democratic candidate Joe Biden had 42.8% of the vote here.

Four years before that, Trump earned 51.3% of the vote.

Back in 1992, independent candidate Ross Perot claimed 28.4% of the state’s presidential vote. Eventual winner, and Republican nominee, George H.W. Bush had 39.5% of the state’s vote.

The only other time that a candidate won with less than 50% of the state’s vote was in 1968, when Richard Nixon took 45.3% of the tally.

Alaska has voted for a Republican presidential candidate in every election since statehood except for 1964, when Democrat Lyndon Johnson won as part of a national landslide.

Every time you wash your hands, take a bath or flush the toilet — your water and waste go somewhere. In Juneau, it goes to one of the sewage treatment plants run by the city.

Each day, the plants process nearly 3.3 million gallons of water. That equates to roughly 1.2 billion gallons every year. Denise Koch, the city’s director of Engineering and Public Works, said whether or not residents realize it, treatment plants play a critical role in the community. 

“Almost everybody in this town flushes the toilet every day and that water comes to one of our wastewater treatment plants,” she said. “These are critical services for both public health and for maintaining environmental standards.”

This election, the city is asking voters for $10 million to cover the cost of replacing the roof and structural supports for a building at the Juneau Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant that houses its wastewater clarifiers. Utility staff say the building needs critical repairs, but some critics argue the city shouldn’t go into debt to pay for it.

The plant is located in Thane and services that area along with downtown and Douglas. It was constructed in 1973 — more than 50 years ago — and it hasn’t received any major upgrades since then. On the outside, rust cakes bits of the roof and piping along the wall. Inside, some of the ceilings and beams are so rusted you could break pieces off with your hands. And light from outside seeps through rusted holes in the ceiling. 

Brian McGuire is the utilities superintendent for the city. Last week, while walking through the building, he explained that wastewater clarifiers help ensure that the water treated at the plant meets environmental standards before it’s released into Gastineau Channel. 

“What’s here is the second to last step that the water goes through before it goes out to the Gastineau Channel,” he said. 

Clarifiers are large settling tanks that mechanically separate suspended solids from liquid water. The solids are dried and then shipped in containers to a landfill in Oregon.

“With water being such a part of what we do in this community, whether it’s fishing or whether it’s sailing, our community is really built around this,” he said. “And so I think this is a critical piece, this is the second to last piece that ensures that water is in the condition you want it to be when you’re out there fishing.”

McGuire said without the building undergoing these upgrades, there could big problems. If the building were to collapse, or something were to happen to the clarifiers, the city wouldn’t be able to meet environmental and public safety standards to discharge the water. It could also cause violations of the city’s wastewater permit.

But, while Koch and McGuire say the building is nearing the end of its designed lifespan and the need for replacement is time-sensitive, mayoral candidate Angela Rodell said she will be voting no. According to a poll conducted by KTOO, she was one of two Assembly candidates who said they would be voting against the measure. 

“We’ve raised taxes significantly over the last four to five years, and I’m concerned that we’re not addressing ongoing maintenance needs when they happen, but rather it seems to get to a crisis point,” she said. 

Koch said if the proposition doesn’t pass, the city is still committed to completing the project. But, because utilities are completely funded by ratepayers, the city may consider increasing rates to cover the cost of the project instead. 

“If the bond passes and we get revenue for this project, it enables us to use the funding that we get from the ratepayers to work on other projects before they get pushed back so far that they become more dire,” she said. 

The last time rates were increased was in July. They’ve gone up 2% each year since 2020.

The wastewater proposition is just one of three propositions on the ballot for this year’s municipal election. Ballots were sent to voters’ mailboxes last week. Election Day is Oct. 1.

Find more election coverage at ktoo.org/elections. 

City officials say the radio system that police and firefighters in Juneau use is outdated. It was only designed for an eight-year lifespan and that expired a decade ago.

Though the system still operates, police officers like Terry Allen say it’s hardly reliable anymore. 

“It’s hit and miss,” he said during a patrol downtown last week. “You can be standing here and be clear as day, and then 15 feet away, you can’t hear anything but static.”

The city is asking voters for $12.7 million to spend on the project in this year’s local election. That money would be taken out as bond debt. It’s Proposition 1 on the ballot. But some critics say the city should have set aside money to pay for this a long time ago.

Allen has been a patrol officer with JPD for 24 years. He said having a working and reliable radio is crucial for his safety. Right now, the radios that officers and firefighters wear don’t work inside most buildings. And, they often hit dead zones near mountainsides and in patches scattered throughout the borough. 

“If you’re in a situation where you need help and you can’t get back to your car, and you’re hoping somebody can get to you, waiting three minutes for dispatch to realize that you’re in trouble because they don’t even know you’re in trouble, and then trying to get somebody to you, that’s a long time,” he said. 

Capital City Fire/Rescue Chief Rich Etheridge said for emergencies like house fires or the recent glacial outburst flooding, not being able to communicate to crews inside buildings can be deadly. 

“I think it’s critical,” he said. “It’s the main component in every emergency situation in the community. Not being able to communicate with crews inside of a burning building, it puts us at a huge liability of hurting or killing someone.”

The system is also important for dispatchers like Meghan Kennedy-Brown. She’s been doing the job for more than 16 years. 

“It’s like a pet or a child — if you can’t make sure that they’re safe, you get very stressed out,” she said. “Because our job is to make sure they’re safe and make sure they have the tools they need, and it’s like taking one of our tools away.”

Now the decision of whether or not to replace it will come down to voters. The new project requires fixing or replacing communication towers at a cost of around $25 million in total. So voters are only being asked to pay for about half of it. The other half is being paid for with federal grants, previous city appropriations and some sales tax funding. 

According to the city, the mill rate isn’t expected to go up if the bond passes, because the city has the capacity to take on more debt right now. A portion of the mill rate is set aside for debt service and that money goes toward paying off bonds the city has taken on over the years.

According to a survey by KTOO, most candidates running for Assembly seats this election say they are in favor of the proposition passing. But several, like mayoral candidate Angela Rodell, said they don’t like the way the city wants to pay for it. She spoke about it at a public safety forum earlier this month.

“One of the things I’m very concerned about is why this bond issue is coming this year,” she said. “ Why it hasn’t come before now? To me, this is something that should have been taken care of a long time ago, and we need to focus on making sure that essential services are covered in current operating budgets.”

In light of a recent fatal shooting in Juneau involving police officers, people in the community have been calling for more transparency in the department. 

JPD’s current radio system doesn’t let them encrypt their communications – that’s when the signal gets cut off to the general public. But Police Chief Derek Bos said the new system would. 

“That doesn’t mean that everything would be encrypted, so that’s something we still would have to navigate as far as policies go, and when we would encrypt or when we wouldn’t, what that would look like,” Bos said. 

JPD doesn’t have anything in its policies about encryption. But, Bos said he’d like to get something on the books before the new system goes live. That would happen through a public process with the Assembly. 

“Encryption does have a significant value for law enforcement. A good example of that would be if we have an active shooter in a school,” he said. “We know nationally that the active shooters will listen to the scanners to see what the police are doing so that they can move away from the officers as we’re entering the school.”

The radio proposition is just one of three propositions on the ballot for this year’s municipal election. Ballots were sent to voters’ mailboxes on Thursday. Election Day is Oct. 1.

Find more local election coverage at ktoo.org/elections.

The Alaska Supreme Court has affirmed the U.S. House candidacy of Eric Hafner, a Democrat imprisoned in New York state.

The court, in a split 4-1 decision, upheld Anchorage Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles’ decision to dismiss a lawsuit by the Alaska Democratic Party that had challenged Hafner’s eligibility.

The decision means Hafner will appear on the November U.S. House ballot alongside incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican challenger Nick Begich, and Alaskan Independence Party challenger John Wayne Howe.

It also means that election preparations, including ballot printing and distribution, will continue on a previously published schedule.

“We would just thank the Supreme Court for issuing a decision on such short notice and preventing any disruption to the election,” said Solicitor General Jessie Alloway, assistant attorney general Thomas Flynn and assistant attorney general Kate Demarest, who opposed the lawsuit on behalf of the Alaska Division of Elections.

Under Alaska’s elections system, the top four finishers from the primary election advance to the general election. Hafner finished sixth, but two higher-finishing Republicans withdrew from the race, allowing Hafner to advance.

The Democratic Party sued, arguing that state law prohibited the elections division from replacing two withdrawn candidates.

The party also argued that Hafner was ineligible because the U.S. Constitution requires a candidate to be an inhabitant of the relevant state when elected to the House. Hafner is serving a 20-year prison sentence for threatening public officials in New Jersey and is not scheduled for release until 2036.

Wheeles rejected the party’s arguments, and the Democratic Party appealed the state-law issue to the Supreme Court, which took up the issue on an emergency basis.

The Alaska Republican Party intervened on the side of elections officials, seeking to preserve their decision to promote Hafner.

The court heard oral arguments Thursday morning and issued a summary decision hours later, stating that the lower court decision was correct. A full legal opinion will be published at a later date.

Democratic Party officials said they were disappointed with the outcome.

“Unsurprisingly, the Alaska Republican Party publicly supports the decision that a convicted felon who is running his campaign from a prison cell in New York should appear on Alaska’s ballot as a candidate for federal office,” said Mike Wenstrup, Chair. “This ruling sets a dangerous precedent and is embarrassing for our state.”

The issue may have implications for this year’s U.S. House race. The Alaska Democratic Party is supporting Peltola, and attorneys representing the party said in oral arguments that some voters could be confused by the presence of two Democrats on the ballot.

Peltola is believed to be in a close race with Begich, and some Democrats worry that Hafner could act as a spoiler by siphoning votes from Peltola.

Wheeles addressed and rejected that argument, noting that Alaska’s ranked choice general election allows voters to list multiple preferred options, and any voter who lists Hafner alone is making a deliberate choice.

In oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court, ADP attorney David Fox said the plain language of the state’s elections law allows only the fifth-place primary-election finisher to advance if a higher-finishing candidate withdraws after the primary.

That argument was rebutted by Demarest and attorney Richard Moses, representing the Alaska Republican Party.

Both said that the language of surrounding law, plus existing case law, makes it clear that the intent of the law is to allow the division of elections to fill the “final four.”

If a second candidate withdraws, the sixth-place finisher becomes the fifth-place candidate, and thus eligible for promotion into the final four, they said.

In a sworn affidavit, elections director Carol Beecher said that with draft ballots already printed and equipment undergoing testing, any ballot redesign would delay the mailing of blank ballots to international voters.

That mailing, required by federal law, must take place by Sept. 21. Because that’s a Saturday, the division must mail about 3,500 ballots by Sept. 20, officials said.

Additionally, about 700,000 ballots will be printed for the general election, a process that must begin early because it takes two and a half weeks.