Governor Dunleavy has said his administration will keep a close eye on the 2020 election cycle in Alaska. COVID-19 restrictions continue to disrupt the usual process of campaigning, gathering, and potentially the ability of people to gather at polling places later in the year.
When asked by KSRM News earlier this week how far-reaching the impact of the social distancing guidelines would be to Alaskans voting in this year’s election cycle, the Governor pledged to dig into the matter: “Very good question, so, the pandemic compels us at this point, without the vaccines, without the antivirals to socially distance. So, there’s going to be a number of things that will be different as we go through this process. We’re having that discussion with the Division of Elections and on what the elections are going to actually look like. So, that’s a great question – it’s the first time I’ve heard it come up – so what we’ll do is prepare to have a longer discussion on that at a future press conference.”
The Governor offered a follow-up response on Wednesday: “Campaigning is going to be different, obviously. That’s going to be up to individual candidates and APOC, which is the group that oversees campaigns. It will be different because you’re probably not going to see large crowds, gatherings, or that sort of things, so I think you’ll see a lot of things done on the internet. With regard to voting, we’re going to protect voters and their constitutional rights. There’s a multitude of avenues to vote already. The Division of Elections is going to closely monitor this. We were talking with the Lieutenant Governor today, and members of the staff, but no decisions have been decided yet on the August primaries that will happen here soon.”
Many around the nation have taken to the idea of mail-in voting as the solution to the problem of not being able to meet at ballot-boxes. The idea has become one filled with controversy, with Democrats suggesting that mailing out ballots allows fewer barriers to legal residents to be able to vote, while many Republicans feel that relying too heavily on mail-in ballots makes the elections more vulnerable to tampering.
Congressman Mark Pocan of Madison, Wisconsin says that mail-in ballots have sufficient precedent and success to be viewed as a valid solution: “If you want to ensure free and fair elections as the biggest and best democracy in the world, certainly, we can do what the state of Oregon does quite well and mail every single person a ballot.”
President Donald Trump, however, calls mail-in ballots a very dangerous thing, because, according to him: “They cheat. Okay? People cheat.”
Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington, feels that his state’s results are evidence that there’s no reason to tear down the wall for the voting process among folks who do not want to be put at risk if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be perpetuated: “Our numbers have gone up on voter participation. This effort has been a spectacular success. There is zero reason not to have a mail-in ballot in any conditions.”
Returning to the Kenai Peninsula, Borough Incident Commander Dan Nelson and Information Officer Brenda Ahlberg held a conversation on Wednesday about what mail-in voting would look like locally:
Ms. Ahlberg: “If you have the opportunity to vote by mail, maybe you should do that this year. Can you share, with us, what that may look like in a local municipal level?”
Mr. Nelson: “Of course, and as we look forward, we know we have some elections this year. We have some local municipal elections. The Borough Clerk, along with the cities throughout the Borough, are working on some different planning and different things as it relates to elections. That’s a great example of a thing that is a very traditional activity for most of us. There are a few areas of the Kenai Peninsula that vote via mail, but as this guidance evolves, and depending on the timeline, we may still need to be doing physical distancing and doing some of those other things, even while exercising our democracy and casting ballots.”
Stay tuned to KSRM for continued coverage of how the 2020 elections are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.