Polls open early for packed primary ballot

MAT-SU — With people around the state headed to the polls for this today’s primary election, here’s a rundown of what you need to know if you plan to participate.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. The Division of Elections asks that if you don’t know where your polling place is, call 1-888-383-8683. An automated system can look up your information in less than a minute using either your voter identification number or Social Security number.

Polling places are generally in public buildings, so if you live close to a school, chances are that is where you need to head.

When heading out to vote, make sure you bring identification. That could be a voter identification card, driver license, birth certificate, passport, state ID card, military ID card, hunting or fishing license, or an original copy of a utility bill, government check, bank statement, pay check or other government document.

Poll workers will have a list of registered voters with your name on it. If you’re not on the list, you can cast a questioned ballot.

Once there, you’ll be asked what type of ballot you want. If you’ve registered as anything but Republican, Undeclared or Non-Partisan, your options are limited to just the ballot containing the Democratic, Alaskan Independence and Libertarian party candidates. If you have registered as an R, U or N, you can choose any ballot.

The Republican ballot has hot local races. There are some opposed Democratic primaries for governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Congress. For state House, the Democrats running are doing so unopposed.

There’s a third ballot option. If partisan politics aren’t your thing but you have a strong opinion about either of the propositions on this ballot you can request a “measures only” ballot.

Two ballot measures this go-round in the Primary are Proposition 1, which is described by proponents as a clean-government initiative and by opponents as a gag law, and Proposition 2, which is the so-called “parental notification” abortion law.

As for candidates, if you chose the Republican ballot, you’ll see the following names:

• For U.S. Senate: Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller.

• For U.S. Representative: Don Young, Sheldon Fisher and John R. Cox.

• For governor: Gov. Sean Parnell, Gerald Heikes, Merica Hlatcu, Sam Little, Ralph Samuels and Bill Walker.

• For lieutenant governor: Eddie Burke, Bob Lupo, Jay Ramras and Mead Treadwell.

State House and Senate seats are voted on by district, so which of those races is on your ballot depends on where you live. Here is a rundown:

• For House District 12, Valdez/Chickaloon: Eric Feige, Pete Fellman and Don Haase.

• For House District 13, Greater Palmer: Don Benson and Carl Gatto.

• For House District 14, Greater Wasilla: Wes Keller is unopposed.

• For House District 15, Willow/Knik/Houston: Mark Neuman or Stephen Jacobson.

• For House District 16, Chugiak/Butte: Bill Stoltze has no primary opponent.

• For Senate seat F, North Pole/Chickaloon/Valdez: John Coghill is unopposed.

• For Senate seat G, Mat-Su: Charlie Huggins is unopposed.

As for the Democratic ballot, the races:

• For U.S. Senate: Jacob Seth Kern and Scott T. McAdams.

• For governor: Ethan Berkowitz and Hollis French.

• For lieutenant governor: Diane E. Benson, Lynette Moreno-Hinz and Jack Powers.

Third-party candidates running unopposed include Libertarian Frederic Haase in the U.S. Senate race, Libertarian Billy Toien and Alaskan Independence Party candidate Donald Wright in the race for governor, and Libertarian Jeffrey Brown in the race for lieutenant governor. Two unopposed Democrats are running in local state House races: Bert Cottle for District 12 and Bonnie Nelson for District 16.

Election results start coming in shortly after polls close. To keep track of local results, visit Frontiersman.com or visit the state Department of Elections website at elections.alaska.gov.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.