Record Ballots to Count In Mat-Su Election

Last Wednesday, the five-member Canvass Board began the fastidious process of examining a Mat-Su Borough record number—3,629— of absentee and questioned ballots that are not yet verified or counted from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough's Oct. 4 election. Working through the weekend, the Canvass Board has so far verified whether votes are valid for voters with surnames starting with the letters A-J. The Board is expected to work through this weekend as well.

After the Canvass Board completes canvassing or verifying the validity of the 2,295 absentee votes, the Board will start the 1,334 questioned ballots, said Borough Clerk Lonnie McKechnie.

A day before the election will be certified, Oct. 18 at 5 pm in Assembly chambers, a three-person Review Board is scheduled to add the valid ballots to an AccuVote machine and count them.

Here is a link to election night results.

Gerry Keeling is chair of the Canvass Board. Other members include Shirley Mills, Bev Zobel, Theresa Thompson, and Barb Fernandez.

Two races are tight from election night. Assembly Member Jim Sykes and former Planning Commissioner Brian Endle are separated by 103 votes. Some 561 absentee and questioned ballots and 8 special needs ballots were issued in that District 1 race and have yet to be verified and counted.

In the race for School Board Seat for District 2, the separation is even closer, with School Board Memeber Ray Michaelson leading School Board Chair Susan Pougher by 39 votes and some 601 absentee & questioned ballots and 6 special needs ballots issued.

For more information contact Borough Clerk Lonnie McKechnie at 861-8445 or Public Affairs Director Patty Sullivan at 861-8577 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.