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Alaska election officials blame mail delays for uncounted rural ballots
The Alaska Division of Elections reported that seventy-five absentee in-person ballots from rural western Alaska communities were not counted in the recent primary election due to mail delivery delays.
The delays affected seven communities, with the majority of the impacted ballots—62 in total—coming from Kotzebue, Igiugig, and Naknek. These ballots are typically sent to regional offices, such as the one in Nome, for review.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, Nikolaj Hagen, noted that “any number of factors” can influence the timeliness of mail delivery but declined to comment on specific mailpieces without further review. While Alaska law allows for a ten-day grace period for ballots postmarked by Election Day, the delays in these rural areas prevented the votes from being processed in time.
Entities
Alaska Division of Elections · David Steiner · Kotzebue · Nikolaj Hagen · U.S. Postal Service
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Alaska accepts absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day if they are sent from within the U.S. and arrive up to 10 days after the election. www.independent.co.uk
- [● 2 SOURCES] Seventy-five absentee in-person ballots from rural western Alaska communities were not counted in the primary election because they arrived too late. www.independent.co.uk
- [● 2 SOURCES] The Alaska Division of Elections attributed the late arrival of ballots to a mail delivery delay. www.independent.co.uk
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Postal Service spokesperson Nikolaj Hagen stated that any number of factors can affect mail delivery timeliness. www.independent.co.uk
- [● 2 SOURCES] The delayed ballots affected seven communities, with 62 of them originating from Kotzebue, Igiugig, and Naknek. www.independent.co.uk