A measure that makes it clear a voter’s intent takes precedence when casting a write-in vote has passed the Legislature and now goes to the governor for signature.
Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas of Fairbanks, grew out of the 2010 U.S. Senate race. Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller beat incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the August primary so Murkowski launched a write-in campaign and came back to defeat Miller in the November general election.
But Miller challenged thousands of write-in ballots on the grounds that the voter didn’t write her name exactly as it appeared in election paperwork.
Miller tried to invalidate ballots with minor misspellings and even those where the voter had dotted an i with a smiley face or a heart.
Full Article: Alaska Legislature passes voter intent write-in bill | Alaska Dispatch.