The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly sunk an ordinance last week that would have shortened the window in which the borough accepts absentee votes cast by mail.
Had it passed, the measure would have set an election-day deadline for the receipt of the mailed ballots.
To be counted, borough code currently requires that absentee mail-in ballots are postmarked by election day and that the borough clerk’s office receives them no later than the Tuesday after an election.
That deadline reflects similar local elections laws in Alaska, like those in the Municipality of Anchorage and City and Borough of Juneau, which also count mailed ballots postmarked by, but received after, election day. But not all major municipalities in Alaska operate that way. The Mat-Su Borough, for instance, requires that absentee mail-in ballots have arrived at the clerk’s office by election day in order to be counted.
The measure the assembly took up Thursday, sponsored by Assemblymember Barbara Haney, would have moved forward the FNSB deadline, among a handful of other changes to absentee by mail voting in the borough.
Those proposed changes included implementing mandatory ID checks for the mailed ballots and requiring that witnesses signing off on the ballots also print their name and provide contact information. Another provision would have eliminated the possibility for the borough to conduct an election solely by mail.
Haney said she thought the ordinance would help build trust in the voting process, and that making election day the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots might help expedite borough election results.
She also cited national data published by the Pew Research Center ahead of the 2024 presidential election, which showed the bulk of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris supporters favored getting race results within a few days of the election.
“I’m not trying to disenfranchise the planet or anything like that. That’s not at all what I’m doing. I’m trying to instill greater confidence in our institutions,” she said.
But disenfranchisement was exactly what some other assembly members were worried about, and Assemblymember David Guttenberg said the ordinance could increase reliance on the postal service and take control away from voters.
“Once you cast your ballot, and it’s postmarked, it’s legal. You have voted. If the post office slips for a day, if the postman picked up the wrong satchel that day, it’s not your fault. You voted in a timely manner. That’s what should be important,” he said.
Guttenberg successfully moved an amendment that kept some of Haney’s proposals but reverted the deadline back to requiring that the mail-in ballots are postmarked – rather than received – by election day.
An earlier amendment passed by the assembly had also removed the provision that would have prevented the borough from holding future elections by-mail only.
The amended ordinance then failed in a 7-2 vote, with Haney among those voting no, meaning the current code remains unchanged.
Thursday’s meeting marked the second time in 10 months that the assembly has considered – and rejected – measures related to the borough’s current by-mail voting options.
Last August, the body voted down a resolution that would have directed the borough clerk to create a task force to explore implementing vote-by-mail elections, like those run by the Municipality of Anchorage and City and Borough of Juneau. The task force then would have had to generate a report detailing their findings.
That measure was introduced by then-Assembly Presiding Officer Savannah Fletcher. It failed on a unanimous vote after significant community pushback against the idea.