Unofficial Borough Election Results Show Strong Support for all Ballot Measures

All four ballot propositions from the Mat-Su Borough’s special election appear poised to pass, according to unofficial results available as of Wednesday.

The special election, which was held Tuesday, contained four ballot measures.  The first involves accepting a reapportionment plan for the borough’s assembly districts.  Just like the State of Alaska, the borough re-examines the size of its districts after each federal census.  While the state process saw significant controversy and multiple court cases, the borough’s reapportionment proceeded fairly quietly.  Borough voters on Tuesday appear to also find the new map uncontroversial, with more than eighty percent voting in favor of the plan.

Propositions 2 and 3 seek to apply lifetime term limits to the Mat-Su Borough Mayor and Assembly Members, respectively.  Currently, those elected officials are limited to two consecutive terms in each office.  Under the proposals, the two-term limit would apply for life. Just under seventy percent of voters approved of both measures.

The final ballot proposition saw the broadest support, with more than eighty-eight percent of votes in favor of it.  That measure seeks to increase the borough’s property tax exemption for seniors and disabled veterans by $46,000, for a total potential exemption of $264,000.

All election results are still considered unofficial, and there are just over 2,000 absentee and questioned ballots remaining to be counted.  Voter turnout on Tuesday was just under eight percent borough-wide.  The borough assembly is scheduled to certify the results of Tuesday’s election later this month.