Kenai voters will head to the polls earlier than usual this year. That’s after the Kenai City Council greenlit a special election during their Wednesday meeting. On April 14, voters will consider whether to move city elections from October to November.
It’s a move the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the City of Soldotna made last year after roughly two-thirds of peninsula voters enacted the change through a ballot proposition.
In all, the Kenai City Council unanimously approved three pieces of legislation on Wednesday. The first sets the special election date. The second puts the question of moving election days on the special election ballot. The third asks through a separate ballot question whether the council should have the authority to change the city elections dates without asking city voters first.
Council member Glenese Pettey said moving the city’s election date requires amending the city’s founding charter. That’s why the question has to go before voters.
“Because of the borough changing it in the last election, we'd be all alone, and it would be more costly for the city to have an election outside – not in conjunction with the borough,” she said.
Wednesday’s vote came a little over a month after the council convened for a work session on the topic. At the meeting, Kenai’s city clerk estimated the city would spend about three times as much money per election without the change to November. That’s because the city traditionally partners with the borough to hold elections.
Information about the upcoming special election will be shared on the city’s website.
