tasha.elizarde
Oct 24, 2018

Counting the Votes in Alaska's Shifted Election

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The gubernatorial race in Alaska is heating up. This November 6th, we will be deciding who will be our next Governor and Lt. Governor for the next term.

 

Up until last week Wednesday, our race was a fight between three candidates: incumbent Governor Walker (I), former Alaska Senator Dunleavy (R), and former US Senator Begich. Governor Walker and former US Senator Begich had a near split vote, many people torn over who they should vote for. Governor Walker dropped the race though, leaving Walker supporters open to voting for Begich or Dunleavy.

 

Not all voters will be able to vote in the different election, though. On the day Walker left the race, there were already about 1,000 absentee ballots received by the Division of Elections. That means that at least 1,000 people voted in an election thinking it would be a three-way race, not the two-way race it is now.

 

Ultimately though, these votes can't be changed in this situation. What do you think — in the situation that a huge change in an election occurs, should we provide early voters with the opportunity to vote for someone else?

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