Spectrum: A commonsense approach to Proposition B-3

Voter turn-out in MSB Municipal Elections is dismal at the best, pathetic at the worst. I do not know the reasons; apathy, confusion, inconvenience, “my vote won’t make a difference”. Some of these, none of these, or all of these reasons. I don’t know, what I do know is we can do better.

Governance at the local level affects our daily lives more so than what happens in Juneau or Washington, DC. The education of our children, the taxation on our property, the protection of our property rights, roads, recreation, fire protection, EMS, the list goes on and on.

I firmly believe that the more people that participate in the process, the better the outcome and that the results will more accurately reflect the values of our community. To this end, I fully support the Citizen’s Initiative, Proposition B-3, on the October 2nd ballot to move the borough’s regular election date from October to November to coincide with State and National Elections.

I acknowledge that there are down-sides (few) and risks associated with this change, but also what I do know is this change has the potential to greatly increase voter turn out and increase citizen participation in our political process. For all of the afore mentioned reasons – I think this is a good thing. Progress comes thru change, change has risk, but change is also necessary for improvement. A friend of mine likes to quote Albert Einstein “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity”. We can stop this “insanity” now. VOTE YES ON B-3 on October 2nd.

Let me address some of the counter points to this Citizen’s Initiated Ballot Proposition (B-3).

Alaska State Statute and State Code will indeed need to be changed. Change is already coming from the Office of the Lt. Governor – Division of Elections. An Election Policy Work Group (EPWG) has been formed, this group has been in existence since 2017 and it appears work has begun in earnest in early 2018. The state has budgeted $4.8 million for upgrades to our election system, both hardware and software. All nine of our elected representatives from the MSB in Juneau were signers of the petition to place this question on the October ballot. When passed, they will help guide the legislative process in Juneau to assure a timely and “commonsense” approach to modernizing our election system.

Two separate lines with two separate voting machines. Yes, that is possible. No, that is not practical. I have confidence in our elected officials and in our public employees that they will work together to find the “commonsense” solution to meet the needs of all Alaskans. Read the Guiding Principles set forth for the EPWG, moving our borough election to November dovetails nicely with the guidelines for this group. Many states hold one election in November, one ballot (city, county, state and national candidates all together) on one voting machine. ONE VALLEY ONE ELECTION.

What about the cities of Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston. After the passage of B-3, these three municipalities will have the choice to change their election date to November also. The Mayor of Palmer was a primary sponsor for this Citizen’s Initiative, Mayor DeVries has stated that she will present to her City Council the opportunity to investigate the benefits of changing their election date. I am sure the citizens of Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston will make a decision that serves their communities best.

Voter confusion. I believe that helps explain in part the low voter turn out for our current October election date. When discussing upcoming elections after the August primary with fellow citizens, most will refer to the next State and National Election in November. When asked “what about the upcoming Borough Election in October” many times I get that “deer in the headlights” stare. Yes, we have voter confusion. YES on B-3 is the “commonsense” approach to help fix this problem.

Costs. Will this save the taxpayers money or will it cost us more. I suspect, like anything new, there will be growing pains and the associated cost that go along with that. But the state has already planned for this ($4.8 million budgeted) and the borough will want to participate in crafting this new process. “Commonsense” tells us that by eliminating one election date there should eventually be a cost savings.

A better solution. The current MSB Assembly Person representing District 6 has publicly suggested we move the Borough election to “Say April”. Really? That seems like “a change for the sake of change”, I suggest we make “a change for the sake of improvement”. This Assembly Person further states “Mixing local issues with state and federal politics detracts from our very important issues of roads, schools, and public safety”. I find this very disingenuous. I apparently have a higher regard for the intelligence and discernment of my fellow Mat-Su residents than this Assembly Person has for their constituency.

The Real Better Solution. VOTE YES ON B-3 on October 2nd.

Ron Johnson is a resident of the Butte. Johnson is the Chairman of the Ballot Proposition Group One Valley One Election, a group formed to promote and support MSB Proposition B-3.