Mat-Su election day is rapidly approaching

Today’s edition contains the first round of candidate questionnaires we’ll be running in advance of the Oct. 6 election. In addition to the profiles of Mat-Su Borough Assembly and mayoral candidates running today, we’ll also provide readers with similar question-and-answer summaries of the candidates for city councils in Wasilla and Palmer, as well as the Mat-Su Borough School Board.

While these profiles aren’t meant to be a comprehensive biography of each candidate’s life, they do provide a lot of basic information voters need to “get to know” their potential elected officials.

We’ve also provided a story about the pending ballot initiatives, which include proposals ranging from a plan to continue a 3 percent sales tax in Wasilla, to proposed changes in how school boards are elected. These initiatives have the potential to significantly change the lives of folks in the various regions of the borough, and we hope you’ll give the story a good look.

Informed voters make for a strong democracy, and we are pleased to do our part by bringing you this information in our pages over the next couple editions of the Frontiersman.

There are other resources available to voters as well. The Mat-Su Borough has a website dedicated to the election (www.matsugov.us/elections), where voters can find details on polling places, candidate bios and other information they’ll need to make an informed decision.

Early voting has already begun, and voters can turn in or mail absentee votes to the Mat-Su Division of Elections office (1700 E. Bogard Road in Wasilla), the Mat-Su Borough Administration Building (350 E. Dahlia in Palmer), Houston City Hall or at the Trapper Creek or Talkeetna public libraries. Absentee voting is available at these locations through Oct. 5. Absentee votes must be postmarked no later than election day.

We hope these election-related stories will help encourage you to vote either now, through early voting, or at your local precinct on Election Day. Typically, local elections receive low turnouts, which means a small minority of voters gets to make decisions for the majority, and our representative democracy takes a hit.