Official election results are in for the wild and flawed April 3 election — which produced the largest turnout in at least 18 years. The new numbers changed no outcomes and huge spreads remain between most winners and losers, according to the municipal clerk’s office. In the most-watched contests, Mayor Dan Sullivan and Anchorage School District board candidate Natasha Von Imhof held onto their leads by blowout margins. Also failing substantially was Proposition 5, an ordinance that would have extended the municipality’s equal-rights protections to gays, lesbians and transgender people.
Despite the big differences, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the election. The municipal assembly is considering hiring an independent investigator to review problems such as why 40 percent of the city’s 121 precincts ran out of ballots at some point. One looming question is how many people didn’t get the chance to vote because they ran out of time. Beginning Saturday, the Election Commission will hear from those who had trouble voting. New results come after the Election Commission on Friday finished counting 13,434 absentee, questioned and by-mail ballots.
… Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, said it was too early to comment on the official results. The group, which gave $10,000 to support the Proposition 5 campaign, has repeatedly called for an independent investigation. “The level of disenfranchisement is significant, and no one has committed significant resources to determining that number,” Mittman said.
Full Article: Final Vote Tally Leaves Anchorage Election Unchanged | Alaska Dispatch.