Voters disapprove of primary

MAT-SU -- Although responses were mixed, election officials said Wednesday that Alaskan voters, by and large, didn't like the new closed primary ballot.

While some party-line voters outside the Mat-Su Borough gym polling location said they found the closed primary ballot simpler and liked the streamlined effect, several voters said they felt their freedom to choose a candidate had been compromised.

"When you pick the ballot, everyone knows who you're voting for," said Palmer resident Dee McClure. "I'm voting for the person, I'm not voting for a party."

One Big Lake man said he didn't like the changes to the primary when he heard about them several weeks ago and set about researching the issue. It was through that research, he said, that he found what he saw as a few flaws in the language of the bill passed by the legislature last session.

"All the parties out there invited me, as an unaffiliated voter, to participate in their primary," said Roger Gay. "The premise that you can only belong to one group at a time is un-American."

Gay said he based his premise on wording in House Bill 193.

"I read it thoroughly and I could find nothing in it that precluded unaffiliated voters from voting in every primary," Gay said. "This is a bill of inclusion, not of exclusion."

Gay cited the first portion of the bill, which states: "A voter registered as nonpartisan or undeclared rather than as affiliated with a particular political party may vote the political party ballot of the voter's choice unless prohibited from doing so …"

Gay said he chose to vote in all six primaries -- which is not prohibited in that section.

When Gay went to vote at his Big Lake polling place, he asked the election official to give him all six primary ballots. After some discussion, the official suggested he speak with Janet Kowalski, the director of the Division of Elections.

"It was an intense conversation," Kowalski said. "He had taken … the very first paragraph which is quite strict -- he took that to mean he could vote all six ballots."

The portion of the bill Gay based his views on is section three. But Kowalski said the bill has more to say.

"If you read down a few paragraphs, it's very clear -- a voter may choose only one ballot," Kowalski said.

She pointed out that, in section five of the bill, subsection B, the bill limits the amount of primary ballots that can be voted to one. But Kowalski said instead of arguing the point with Gay, she will let a ballot review board decide whether they agree with his philosophy.

"What we had him do is vote all six ballots," Kowalski said. "We have a questioned ballot review board. The procedure there is to review all the [questioned] ballots and make a case-by-case determination."

Gay said he was looking into contesting the election, an option Kowalski said several voters are looking at.

"I've been passing these out like hotcakes," Kowalski said of the Alaska Statute citations listing how to file an election contest. "So many voters did not like the process."

Kowalski explained that, after the election is certified, voters can contest the election by filing a complaint in Alaska Superior Court. She said the election is scheduled to be certified on Sept. 18.

"Voters have 10 days to file," Kowalski said. "They need signatures from at least 10 registered voters."

There are no forms to fill out in order to file a contest, per se, but Kowalski said the directions set out in Alaska Statute 15.20.540 are very clear and easy to follow. If the 10-day timeline is not followed, she said, it's likely the contest will not be heard by the judge. Kowalski said she was providing information on filing a contest as a public service, not as a directive.

"I'm not, of course, advocating that people file them," Kowalski said.

Kowalski said several complaints, including Gay's, may result in election contests. In Gay's case, she said, a judge may be asked to determine whether access to every ballot, although only one could be chosen, resulted in disenfranchised voters. Another complaint that has been brought up, she said, has been what some call a violation of their right to privacy.

Gay said he, too, felt privacy was at issue in the primary.

"We have a right to privacy written in the state constitution. How can an election official demand to know who I'm voting for?" Gay asked. "If they can't conduct an election without preserving the secrecy of the procedure, then the entire primary is null and void."

If election contests are filed, Kowalski said Gay's interpretation could ring true. A judge's decision could render the outcome of the election invalid and that could mean the general election may be up in the air.

"We can't have a general election unless we have candidates," Kowalski said.

She explained that, if the legal question arises of whether the process followed in the primary was correct, it could mean the results are thrown out.

Kowalski said she agrees with some of the voters, that the process can be improved. But she did not feel she was in a position to make changes to the new system. Ultimately, Kowalski said, she's hoping the legislature will hear the cry of the voters and come up with an improved primary procedure.

"I think the process is legal, but I think it could be improved," Kowalski said. "I think it's dangerous in a society when an election director starts making up law because the legislature was silent. It's the job of the legislature to do that."