By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
The first two votes in Alaska’s Aug. 18 primary election have already been cast.
According to records published by the absentee and petition office of the Alaska Division of Elections, two voters — one in South Carolina and another in Hawaii — returned their ballots on July 17.
Thousands more voters will cast their ballots in the coming weeks. Absentee ballots were mailed to overseas and military voters starting July 2, and absentee ballots will start going out to the general public on July 24. Early in-person voting starts Aug. 3.
In the primary, voters will pick one candidate for each office. The top four vote-getters for each race, regardless of party, will advance to the general election on Nov. 3.
If there are four or fewer candidates running for a particular office, all candidates advance to the general election.
For Alaska’s statewide races, that isn’t an issue. There are 17 people running for governor, each running on a combined ticket with a lieutenant governor candidate:
- Tom Begich and Julia Hnilicka (Democratic)
- Click Bishop and Greta Schuerch (Republican/Independent)
- Dave Bronson and Josh Church (Republican)
- Adam Crum and Bob Craig (Republican)
- Edna DeVries and George Hightower (Republican)
- Meda DeWitt and Christopher Steere (Independent)
- Michael Gilbert and Timothy Hickel (Republican)
- Matt Heilala and Jesse Sumner (Republican)
- Shelley Hughes and Blake Gettys (Republican)
- Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Zac Johnson (Democratic/Independent)
- Hank Kroll and Tommy Nicholson III (Republican/Independent)
- Lesil McGuire and Sara Rasmussen (Republican)
- James Parkin and Ram Greer (Republican/Democratic)
- Destry Payne Sr. and Cliff Silvers (Independent)
- Treg Taylor and Candi English (Republican)
- Bill Walker and Randy Hoffbeck (Independent)
- Bernadette Wilson and Mike Shower (Republican)
If one of the top four finishers withdraws from the race, they are automatically replaced with the fifth-place finisher. If there are multiple withdrawals, the replacement process continues until there are four candidates.
Registration for the primary election has closed, but Alaskans may register for the general election until Oct. 4. Residents can check their voter registration at myvoterportal.alaska.gov.
