What Alaska Voters Need to Know Before Nov 5th

Local First News (News of the North)

Early voting for Alaska's election begins on Monday, October 21, with the deadline to request absentee ballots approaching. Voters will rank their choices for president, U.S. House, and state races. They will also vote on two statewide ballot measures:

• Ballot Measure 1: Proposes raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027 and adding sick leave benefits.
• Ballot Measure 2: Aims to eliminate ranked-choice voting and the state’s top-four nonpartisan primary system.

Absentee ballots must be requested by October 26, and results will begin to be released on Election Day, November 5. Final outcomes, including ranked-choice results, will be available by November 20.

Alaska's U.S. House race is currently the nation’s most expensive, with $31 million already spent across both primary and general elections. Rep. Mary Peltola, the incumbent, is facing significant opposition, and campaign ads include claims of her vote affecting Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) checks. However, this claim has been debunked, as the PFD is tied to investment income, not oil revenue. Another challenger, Nick Begich, has been accused of calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme, but he clarified that his statement was about how Social Security is funded, not the benefits themselves.

The Biden administration has finalized a new rule to add three Alaska Native representatives to the Federal Subsistence Board, which manages subsistence activities on federal lands. The move aims to better integrate Alaska Native knowledge into subsistence management. This is part of a broader initiative to include Indigenous perspectives in federal decisions, particularly related to salmon conservation and public land access.

Alaskans voting by mail this fall need to use two stamps for their absentee ballots due to their larger size. The 17-inch ballot accommodates the ranking of eight presidential candidates. Although the envelope states "First Class Postage Required," the U.S. Postal Service will still deliver ballots with insufficient postage, but all other requirements, such as the witness signature, must be met.