While a great deal of attention has been paid to Election Day vote totals, election rules in Alaska mean that more than a hundred thousand votes won’t be counted until at least next week.
According to an estimate by Alaska Public Media based on Division of Elections data, more than 120,000 absentee ballots had been returned by Election Day. Another 40,000 absentee ballots were sent to voters, but had not been returned. State law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by November 13th to be counted. Counting of those ballots won’t begin until next Tuesday, meaning it may take many days to determine the winner of any tight races.
In House District 10, which includes the Northern Susitna Valley, about 3,200 absentee ballots have been returned, with around 900 outstanding. Republicans make up the largest party affiliation to vote absentee, accounting for just short of 900 votes. Undeclared voters make up the second largest group, with more than 700. Democrats and Non-partisan registered voters both returned slightly fewer than 400 absentee ballots.
Current estimated totals are equal to the number of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 election, but that number could rise by hundreds of votes before the deadline.
