The state Division of Elections used the Alaska Federation of Natives convention to unveil a set of special stickers to be given to people who vote early. But as it turns out, you can't do early voting in-person in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
The new stickers are cartoon versions of Alaskan animals in familiar Alaskan landscapes. And they come in several languages, including Alaska Native languages. But they won't be available in the Y-K Delta, which has the most tribes of any region in Alaska.
Anyone who wants to cast their vote early in the Y-K Delta has to do it by mailing a ballot in after they voted in location so that it can be verified by a bipartisan review board. It's called "absentee-in-person" voting according to Samantha Miller, a spokeswoman for the Division of Elections. This is not the same as early voting, which has a different set of requirements.
Miller says that the Division is only offering the stickers at early voting locations that “establish a secure connection with the voter registration database system”. This basically means locations that can easily verify voter IDs electronically. Early voting locations also have to offer all election races for all districts.
Bethel, for instance, only offers ballots for House District 38 and Senate District S. Miller says that it would be difficult to set up an early voting system in the Y-K Delta. Even so, the stickers have proven to be so popular that they may bring them back next year, and not just for early voting.
Early voting began Monday. Locations include Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, Nome, and Wasilla. Election day is November 6.