Kenai Peninsula voters will consider whether to align state and local election days. That’s after borough assembly members voted last week to put the question on this year’s municipal ballot.
Proponents of the change say it would boost voter turnout in local elections, which consistently trails behind turnout in state and federal elections. But some city officials say the logistics of running elections concurrently would be challenging and expensive.
Ben Carpenter sponsored the initiative. He’s a former Republican State House representative from Nikiski.
“When folks are asked, ‘Would you like to vote once a year or twice a year?’ They were very, very supportive of only having to vote once a year,” he told assembly members.
Currently, Kenai Peninsula Borough code says borough elections will be held the first Tuesday in October. That’s usually about a month before the state and federal elections.
Borough elections are administered independently of state and federal elections. They are run by borough volunteers, using borough machines, with results compiled and reported by the borough clerk’s office. State and federal elections are run by the Alaska Division of Elections.
The assembly added language to the ballot proposition clarifying that aligning the election days could cost the borough money. But Borough Clerk Michele Turner says she’s not sure how much money. The borough will need more election workers to run the concurrent elections, on top of separate signs, booths and tables.
“I don't have a dollar amount for that,” she said. “I also don't have a dollar amount for recruiting new election workers.”
October’s vote will come more than two years after assembly members killed a resolution that would have put a similar question on the ballot. Three cities opposed the change, citing costs and logistics as obstacles.
Borough election data show voter turnout tends to be higher in state and federal elections than in local elections. In the most recent local election, 13% of voters cast ballots. That’s as compared to more than 50% in each of the State House districts covering the Kenai Peninsula in the last federal election.
The proposition is the fourth that will go before borough voters in October. One will ask whether the borough should hand-count ballots. Another seeks to tie the borough’s sales tax cap to inflation.
Election day is Oct. 7. The voter registration deadline is Sept. 7. Voters can check their registration status on the Alaska Division of Elections website.
