Voting centers open Tuesday in Anchorage's by-mail city election
While Anchorage's municipal elections been conducted using a vote-by-mail system since 2018, some have preferred to vote in person. For those who plan to return their completed ballots by mail, ballots must be postmarked on or before election day, April 1. Ballots can also be returned at one of 18 secure drop boxes until 8 p.m. April 1.
On the ballot are six of 12 Anchorage Assembly seats, two Anchorage School Board seats and a slate of bonds and propositions.
[2025 Anchorage municipal election guide: Q&As with candidates for Assembly and school board]
[Here are the bonds and levies on the ballot in Anchorage's city election]
For in-person voting, residents can head to one of the city's three vote centers: at City Hall in downtown, at the Loussac Library in Midtown and at the Eagle River Town Center. The Eagle River location will only have ballots for the Chugiak-Eagle River district. Starting Tuesday, vote centers will be open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m., and on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For voters mailing or dropping off ballots, remember to read and sign the declaration on the envelope. A valid signature from the voter is required for the ballot to be counted.
If you're mailing your ballot the day before or on election day, consider asking a postal official to hand-stamp the envelope with a postmark to make sure your ballot is counted.
Secure drop boxes are available at 18 locations across the municipality, with a list available at muni.org/elections.
If you didn't receive a ballot, if your ballot is lost or damaged, or if you need assistance voting, head to a vote center. This is also where you can find ADA-accessible voting machines.
You can also apply with the clerk's office to vote by fax, email or secure document portal. To do so, you should apply before 5 p.m. Tuesday. Any applications received after that "may be processed subject to availability of staff and resources," according to the municipal clerk's office.
If you won't be home during the election, you can apply to vote at a temporary address. The deadline to apply is also 5 p.m. Tuesday.
To get ballot tracking alerts by text, email or voicemail, sign up at anchorage.ballottrax.net/voter. The system sends alerts when ballot packages have been sent out, received, counted, or if there is a problem with a ballot.
In some cases, voters will be asked to "cure" problems with their ballots, like if the ballot return envelope is missing a signature or the signature couldn't be verified. When this happens, election officials mail voters a letter with options to fix the issue. Last year, the municipal clerk's office introduced a new way for voters to cure their ballots via text message.
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Chicago Tribune
5 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
District 204 continues construction work funded by last year's bond referendum, with classes starting Tuesday
Students at Indian Prairie School District 204 returning to school on Tuesday for the first day of classes are likely to notice some changes to the buildings they learn in — in some cases, from the moment they walk through the front doors. Over the summer, school buildings across the district have been undergoing renovations, from more secure entryways at 11 elementary schools to an overhaul of Waubonsie Valley High School's auditorium to LED lighting installations across district schools. Some of the projects have been finished in time for school starting, while others are still underway. Last year, voters approved a proposal from District 204 to sell up to $420 million in bonds to pay for facility improvements, according to past reporting. Without the bonds, the district would have needed to cut the equivalent of 50 full-time positions to pay for some of these projects. The bonds are to be paid for using a continuation of an existing 37-cent property tax per $100 of equalized assessed value that would otherwise have expired at the end of 2026. That means the tax rate for residents in terms of their contribution to capital projects would effectively remain flat. Since then, the district has been preparing for major projects across district buildings that are set to extend through 2032, according to past reporting. The projects include school-specific renovations at Waubonsie Valley High School, Neuqua Valley High School, Metea Valley High School, the Birkett Freshman Center and Gregory and Hill middle schools, along with district-wide safety and security upgrades, LED lighting installations and other infrastructure projects. Several of those projects got underway this summer. The largest project in terms of referendum dollars — slated to receive $130 million in bond sale funds over the duration of its renovations — is the upgrades at Waubonsie Valley High School, which this summer has undergone a major auditorium overhaul that is set to be completed later this year. That project, OK'd by the District 204 school board in March, is costing $7.6 million, according to past reporting. The project includes new seats, house lights, theater lights, sound systems, flooring and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades meant to bring the building up to code, district leadership previously said. Waubonsie Valley High School Principal Jason Stipp said one feature of the new seating, for example, is adding aisles in its front section, which that portion of the seating didn't have previously. Stipp also pointed out the ADA upgrades as one major change that's part of the project. 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Shipley said they're 'materially on schedule' in terms of the timeline and budget for work so far, and said that any impact from tariffs and inflation has remained 'in line with what (the district) initially budgeted.' And the auditorium is just the beginning of the work happening at Waubonsie Valley. Shipley said that part of the reasoning for starting with that renovation is that it's 'pretty self-contained,' in that it wouldn't have a significant impact on the school's day-to-day operations or future construction work. In the spring, work is beginning on Waubonsie's stadium, Stipp said. Part of that renovation involves making its field a turf field, so it can be used more widely. Right now, for example, P.E. classes are held on the practice field, rather than the main one, Stipp said. The stadium is slated to be closed starting after spring break this year. In the spring, construction is also starting on Waubonsie's cafeteria, Stipp said. 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