The Division of Elections has certified signatures submitted in support of the initiative to sync Permanent Fund Dividend applications to Alaskan voter registrations meaning it will proceed to a 2016 ballot.
Campaign Manager John-Henry Heckendorn with the PFD Voter Registration initiative detailed what the initiative would do if passed by Alaskan voters.
Heckendorn: “If someone applies for their PFD and qualifies successfully, they would be automatically registered to vote if the initiative passed. They would also have the option to opt out if they didn’t want to register to vote for some reason. So after they applied for the PFD, they would get a post card in the mail from [Division of Elections] saying ‘Check this box if you don’t want to be registered to vote’ and they would send that back in and not be included in the registration update.”
The campaign submitted 42,540 signatures to the Division of Elections in January. Today Division Director Josie Bahnke announced 36,907 voter signatures were certified as valid, far more than the 28,545 signatures that had be determined to be required for the initiative to be put on the ballot.
When the initiative will appear on the ballot this year is determined by when the legislature’s regular session ends. If Alaskan lawmakers end their session on time, the initiative will appear on the August primary ballot; if the legislature goes over their regular 90-days by four or more days, the initiative will appear on the November ballot.