The League of Women Voters Tanana Valley chapter and KUAC FM 89.9 hosted a panel Friday night on the topic of universal ballot delivery, or a mostly vote-by-mail format.
Panelists included Fairbanks City Clerk Dani Snider and Fairbanks North Star Borough Clerk April Trickey, as well as two Anchorage election specialists. Anchorage rolled out its universal ballot delivery system ahead of its 2018 system.
Jemery Johnson, president and CEO of the Greater Chamber of Commerce, served as the panel moderator and provided his own insight into the system. Johnson was Alaska’s Northern Region division chief before he retired from the state.
“The neat thing about vote-by-mail is that everybody is provided an additional option, depending on how a municipality wants to implement something new,” Johnson said. “It’s not that they’re taking anything away, though they may consolidate some places into vote centers.”
He noted in the case a ballot is damaged — whether by coffee spills or accidentally mucking it with moose blood — voters have the option to get a cured ballot to fix their mistakes.
The Alaska Division of Elections defines the state as a “no excuse” voting state that allows eligible voters to vote absentee by mail, fax or online delivery, something that Fairbanks, North Pole and the borough incorporate into their municipal election structure.
But universal ballot delivery’s place in the borough boils down to cost, Trickey said.
Anchorage’s Jamie Heinz said her city spent $1.2 million on election equipment, systems and software in 2017 and 2018 and about $1 million to conduct the inaugural 2018 municipal election. Costs have since gone down as it refined its system.
Trickey said by-mail election research started as early as 2014 when former Assemblymember Lance Roberts proposed the idea. The Alaska Legislature also passed a bill that year clarifying state and municipalities’ ability to conduct votes by mail.
“We had very low voter turnout at that time and his main goal was to improve it,” Trickey said. In 2013, the turnout was 14.4%, followed by 16.9% in 2014.
Trickey said the clerk’s office researched states that switched to a by-mail system, such as Oregon and Washington and noticed an improvement. Since it implemented its by-mail voting system in 2004, Oregon has consistently trended among the highest in the nation.
The Pacific Northwest state has had its dips in recent years, but still pushed above 65% in turnout.
But Trickey said the borough needed to upgrade its equipment if it switched to a complete by-mail election. Using its equipment at the time to conduct a by-mail election would have required a massive increase in election workers and a larger secure space.
The clerk’s office would have had to close down the Assembly chambers in the Juanita Helms Administration Center for two or three weeks and relocate meetings elsewhere
“We realized the budget would be huge and would not have a chance if we took a huge budget to the Assembly,” Trickey said. “We tried to do the best within what our budget was.”
Research at the time indicated that 10% of the addresses were considered undeliverable. A deal-breaker was the combined costs for both the borough and the two cities.
“We have a long-time relationship with Fairbanks and North Pole doing elections,” Trickey said. “Whatever decision this community moves forward with, I hope that both the borough and cities will move together at the same time.”
The Assembly in 2015 defeated an ordinance in a 1-7 vote that would have launched a wholly by-mail system. Since then, Trickey said the municipal clerks have done their best to encourage high voter turnout, from setting up early voting options to launching its election/candidate information booklet in 2022.
Trickey said the booklet has been a help, but the borough can’t afford to mail it out. Early election and other options have helped bolster access in the past four years, Trickey said.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone can vote, but different methods are needed in whatever direction we go as a community,” Trickey said.
The Borough Clerk’s office purchased its current election equipment, including ballot scanners. The three clerk offices share equipment and space during the October municipal elections.
Insights from Anchorage
Heinz said Anchorage had a methodical push when her city launched its by-mail system.
In early 2018, it sent postcards to about 218,000 voters to ensure the voter rolls were up to date. About 23,000 were returned as undeliverable.
As of recent rolls, it now mails out 209,000 ballots, something she attributed to automatic voter registration when residents file for their Permanent Fund Dividend. Heinz added that Anchorage sends out voter notification cards to ensure addresses are right and to encourage voters to update their addresses.
“You can vote the way you want to vote,” Heinz said. “If you want to vote by mail, you can, or you can vote at the voting centers or if you’re on vacation, you can request a temporary mailing address.”
Anchorage forwards any information to the state elections division to ensure the voter rolls are updated with undeliverable information.
About 60% of Anchorage voters deposit their mailed ballot in a drop-off box, 30% send return a ballot by mail and 10% come to voting centers.
Heinz said about two people check a signature for verification. Election signature verification staff are trained by experienced Washington State Troopers who are experts in forensic document examination.
“We can see differences in signatures if a person is aging or on the younger end,” Heinz said. “We can see those differences.”
Heinz said Anchorage built its signature verification database and launched a “ballot track” system in 2022 that notifies voters of their ballot’s progress.
Anchorage sent out 2,000 “cure” notices to voters, with about 600 hundred for a “no-signature match” request and verification. In total, Anchorage election officials rejected 1,000 of its returned ballots for various reasons.
Voter turnout for that city between 2013 and 2017 ranged between 20% and 27%, Heinz said. When 2018 came around, it rose to 32%, followed by 29% in 2019, 30% in 2020 and 31% in 2021.
“We did see an increase in voter participation,” Heniz said. She estimated election costs went from $10 to $11 per voter at most poll locations to $8 per voter with universal ballot delivery.
Anchorage spent $1.2 million on equipment, including $500,000 for a ballot sorter, $200,000 for its tabulator and $20,000 for its steel-concrete voter drop-off boxes. Annual software costs are about $50,000.
The cost to run its inaugural vote-by-mail election in 2018 came in just over $1 million, up from $614,000 in 2016. The costs dropped to $854,000 in 2019.