Anchorage voters have until Wednesday afternoon to fix ballot signature issues

Anchorage voters have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to “cure” issues with their ballots from the runoff mayoral election.

Curing ballots is the process that allows election officials to resolve signature issues so a person’s vote can be counted. Anchorage voters whose ballots need to be cured should have received a letter in the mail within three days of their ballot being questioned, said city election administrator William Northrop.

Roughly 850 ballots still need to be cured, according to Northrop.

Curing ballots won’t change the outcome of the runoff at this point — former Anchorage Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance is set to replace incumbent Dave Bronson in the mayor’s office and was ahead by more than 5,000 votes in the most recent count.

However, it’s still important for voters to resolve issues with their ballots, because it ensures that in future elections, they’ll be less likely to receive a cure letter, Northrop said.

Common issues include a voter forgetting to sign their ballot, a signature that doesn’t match what election officials have on file, or situations where election officials have no reference signature for a voter, which can sometimes happen with voters who are new to Alaska or haven’t voted before, Northrop said.

There are three ways for Anchorage voters to cure a ballot before the deadline:

• Visit the Anchorage Election Center, at 619 E. Ship Creek Ave.

• Email their ID and cure letter to elections@anchorageak.gov.

• Via text, using “TXT2Cure.” Voters can start that process by texting “Anchorage” to 28683, and clicking on the link in the automatic reply.

If a voter misses the 4 p.m. deadline, there is one final way to cure their ballot, Northrop said: They can come to the Election Center and attend the Public Session of Canvass meeting on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and ask the election commission to accept their vote.