Assembly: Hand count to be done to verify machine counting in Nov. 8 borough election

The Matanuska Borough Assembly approved a proposal to do a hand-count of votes cast in borough elections planned Nov. 8 as a backup to machine tabulators that are now used.

Assembly member Dee McKee sponsored a resolution, which was adopted without objection, directing Borough Clerk Lonnie McKechnie to have the hand-count done in 38 voting precincts in the borough.

The additional hand count basically is to reassure Mat-Su residents who are now suspicious of automated voting systems following claims of hacking and manipulation of results in Lower 48 elections after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential elections.

No evidence of vote manipulation was found in subsequent investigations in the Lower 48 but concerns persisted among conservatives including in Mat-Su. The assembly resolution acknowledged, however, that the tabulators used in borough elections do not have modems and are not connected to the internet, which makes external manipulation virtually impossible.

McKechnie has estimated that the extra costs to the borough to do the supplemental hand-count could be about $7,000.

“Prior to the 2020 regular election the Borough used the state’s Accuvote tabulators from the 1990s until 2019 and is now using the newer ballot tabulating machines called ImageCast Precinct, or ICP, machines made from Dominion,” the resolution said.

Dominion machines were at the center of controversy in some Lower 48 elections, and claims of fraud were made by conservative groups. That prompted Diminion to file lawsuits, which are still ongoing.

“However, the distrust of the Dominion ICPs has been very public on the national level,” the resolution said, so the hand-count will basically assure people as to election integrity.

Several local residents spoke at a public hearing on McKee’s resolution held during the assembly meeting.

John Miller, a proponent of the hand count, said he was all for it because it is used elsewhere in Alaska and through history elsewhere across the nation. Miller and other supporter have also proposed that the hand counting be videotape and even streamed so that people can follow the process in real times.

One other speaker said, “too many things can go wrong with a machine, including flipping votes.”

A number of more routine actions were also approved by the assembly last Tuesday, including a one-time waiver of land-fill fees for debris from the removal of dilapidated docks in various lakes in the Big Lake area along with one-time waivers of up to four dumpsters for Big Lake as well as removal of up to 30 junked vehicles.

One important approval was the designation of a regional Metropolitan Planning Organization for Mat-Su to facilitate state and federal funds for transportation. Similar regional transportation planning entities now exist in Anchorage and Fairbanks. The resolution was adopted without objection.

Several new contract provisions were also approved for projects including $1.509 million to Orion Construction for a design-build project to build an emergency services warm storage building; a contract extension for Dirtworks, Inc. to July 31, 2023 for the Butte Elementary School water system replacement; through the Mat-Su school district to Wolf Architecture Inc. for design services for American Charter School; a change in a Lounsbury and Associates contract for the Hidden Hills road project; a contract to Kinney Engineering for $399,492 for upgrades to Fern Street, and with a new pedestrian pathway; a contract for Professional and Technical Services for $231,320 to design upgrades for the East Smith Road extension and a new pedestrian pathway, and finally a contract to DOWL for design upgrades to Edgerton Parks Road, also with a new pedestrian pathway.