Monday, Sept. 16 marked the beginning of early voting for Kodiak’s municipal election, which includes races for seats on the Borough Assembly, City Council, and Kodiak Island Borough School Board. All of these local positions have three-year terms.
The candidates vying for seats on the school board include Beate Daly, incumbent Judy Carstens, Mike Litzow, and Jesse Mickelson. The other incumbent Dave Johnson is not running this year.
Instead Johnson is running for Borough Assembly along with Sandra Katelnikoff Lester, incumbent Scott Smiley, and incumbent James Turner.
And Jay Celli, Colleen Ford, incumbent Terry Haines and incumbent Rich Walker all filed to run for City Council.
City voters will also have a ballot measure to weigh in on that determines if future city managers, which also includes the current acting city manager Josie Bahnke if she were to become the next full time manager, will be required to live within city limits or within 12 miles of the city.
According to data from the Division of Elections, there are just over 10,000 registered voters spread across all precincts on Kodiak Island. That includes 136 in Chiniak, 1,841 in Bells Flats, Kodiak Island South has 164, Kodiak No.1 has 2,039, Kodiak No. 2 has 2,027, Mission Road precinct has 3,592, and then Old Harbor, Ouzinkie, and Port Lions have 430 voters combined.
For last month’s primary election, participation from Kodiak Island voters was just under 10% with roughly 1,000 out of 10,163 registered voters casting ballots. Statewide, voter turnout for the primary was less than 15% which is not the lowest on record but still lower than usual for primary elections according to the Alaska Beacon.
From now until election day, the Borough Assembly Chambers are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday for voters to cast their votes in the upcoming city and borough elections. Oct. 1 is election day with polls open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Language assistance can be provided for any voters with limited English speaking.
If you need additional information or want to request an absentee ballot to vote, contact the City Clerk’s office at 907 486 8636, or the Borough Clerk at 907 486 9310. Absentee ballots can be requested through Sept. 24 and must be postmarked no later than Oct. 1 in order to be counted.
