Mayor hopefuls await final tally

MAT-SU -- As has become a growing occurrence in the Mat-Su Borough, Tuesday's election is, in many races, too close to call.

Former Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon currently leads the race for Mat-Su Borough by nearly 70 votes, according to the unofficial tally of votes. Incumbent Tim Anderson trails in the race, holding 4,597 votes. Newcomer to the field, Steve Menard, garnered 1,636 votes.

Fannon said Wednesday he's not ready to write a victory speech -- the race is still too close to call, he said, and that's a good indication of voter sentiment.

"It's sort of indicative of the interest that the residents have in the direction the borough's going to go in the future," Fannon said. He added that, if he comes out the winner, he plans to keep that split in mind when making decisions. "I don't want to end up representing the minority -- I want to represent the majority. As each issue comes up, I'll have to go to the people."

While Fannon currently holds the lead, the race isn't over and two numbers mean it's very much undecided -- 2,100, the approximate number of absentee votes cast, and 40, the percentage of votes cast in the mayor's race required to avoid a runoff.

The Mat-Su Borough has long had an ordinance on the books mandating that the successful candidate for borough mayor must receive at least 40 percent of the votes cast in that race. According to the unofficial results, nearly 11,000 voters cast ballots in the mayor's race. Add to that the approximately 2,100 yet-uncounted absentee and questioned ballots, and the successful mayoral candidate must bring in more than 5,200 votes to top the 40-percent margin; about 600 more than either Fannon or Anderson currently have.

If the distribution of votes remains about the same as it was on election day, it shouldn't be difficult to reach that 40-percent mark, but Mat-Su Borough Clerk Sandra Dillon said her staff is prepared in case a runoff is needed.

"It's the same process as preparations for any election," Dillon said. "We've already told [the election officials] we might have to do that."

Anderson, who challenged the 40-percent rule in July 2002, said he's not too worried about it coming into play this time around. In 2002, he said, he had suggested the assembly change the borough code so the assembly was subject to the same rules as mayoral candidates -- assembly candidates must get 40 percent of the vote or the 40-percent rule should be abolished altogether. The assembly voted to keep the rule as-is.

The 40-percent rule may or may not turn out to be a factor in the borough election, but the high number of uncounted votes remains the biggest source of angst for the candidates.

This is, Dillon said, the highest number of absentee ballots voters have ever requested from the borough. Between 600 and 700 absentee ballots were requested by mail and nearly 1,000 voters cast ballots at absentee-in-person polling places.

This year, as in previous years, voters were able to cast ballots nearly a month before election day at two locations -- Cottonwood Creek Mall in Wasilla and the Mat-Su Borough building in Palmer. One location was added this year on election day only -- a polling place at Espresso Exit, a coffee shop located at the intersection of the Glenn and Parks highways. Also different this year, voters were able to cast their ballot at the absentee voting locations on election day as well. Thanks to a change in borough code, Dillon said, about 160 voters who may not have had time to reach their polling location before it closed, were able to vote. Anderson commended Dillon's efforts in increasing voter turnout.

"I think Sandy is just doing an excellent job of making voting available to people," Anderson said.

Both Fannon and Anderson said they made a strong push to get out the absentee vote, but there's no way to tell what the outcome will be until those ballots are returned and counted. In the 2000 mayoral election, Anderson led by more than 650 votes and received more than 55 percent of the absentee votes.

Due to the increase in absentee and questioned ballot numbers, Dillon said, the canvassing board may work extra hours each day and through the weekend to make sure the information is ready to be released on Tuesday. Wednesday, Dillon, members of the borough clerks' office and the canvassing board gave a brief presentation of what was to take place during the next week to candidates, supporters and others gathered at the borough building.

Gerry Keeling, chair of the canvassing board, said by the time the process is finished each voter who entered the polls Tuesday will have had their information checked against several voting registries to be sure no one votes more than once, and that votes don't get counted in the wrong precinct.

"There's no way any single voter can vote more than one time," Keeling said. If need be, she added, the board has all the information needed to reconstruct what happened election day in each of the borough precincts, and has access to state records in case any kind of voter research such as address or signatures is needed.

"Although we'll be putting in some long hours to complete this process, we know that when we sign off … we'll have done our job," Keeling said.

Menard said Wednesday he was pleased at voters' response to his campaign. Although he got a late start and is a newcomer to the field, Menard said he came away with a very positive attitude about the election and looks forward to the next election, whatever race it may be.

"It's like when you lose a real close game. I'm so passionate about it, [but] all day you're thinking, 'What can I do better next time,'" Menard said. "To my credit, I didn't run a negative campaign. This was just the type of campaign I was going to run from the get-go because … regardless of how it turns out, this is my home."