The Anchorage Assembly unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday night to support conducting the 2017 city election by mail, rather than by in-person polling precincts. In a vote-by-mail election, the city will automatically mail ballots to every registered voter in Anchorage, deputy clerk Amanda Moser said in a recent interview. Voters would no longer visit a polling precinct on Election Day to fill out a ballot. Officials have been exploring the change for several years and say it will boost low voter turnout in city elections.
Ernie Hall, the chair of the Assembly’s elections committee, said during Tuesday’s meeting that it often takes time to go through city ballots. With vote-by-mail, “you can sit down and look at (the ballot) in the comfort of home,” Hall said.
The change would mean that instead of 122 polling precincts, the city would offer a few accessible voting centers, Moser said. Voters can return ballots by mailing them to the city, dropping them in a drop box or leaving them at one of the voting locations.
Full Article: Anchorage Assembly endorses vote-by-mail election in 2017 | Alaska Dispatch News.