Kathleen McCrossin checks the registration of a voter in Precinct No. 2 at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)
Voter turnout for the primary election was low yesterday (08-16-16), as Sitkans chose their party candidates for the U.S. Senate, House, and Alaska state legislature.
When the polls closed at 8 p.m., Precinct No. 1 at Grace Harbor Church reported 254 ballots cast. Precinct No. 2 at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church reported 255 ballots cast.
House District 35 saw only 10% voter turnout yesterday. This includes precincts from Angoon to Thorne Bay, as well as absentee and early votes.
For the ADL ballot, 648 people voted for Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for the House District 35 seat. ADL includes those registered with the Democratic Party, Alaska Independent Party, and the Libertarian Party of Alaska. As for the Republican ballot, which encompasses registered Republicans and undeclared voters, 627 voted for Sheila Finkenbinder. Republican Senator Bert Stedman is running unopposed for the Senate District R seat and earned 695 votes.
In Sitka, voter turnout was 7%. Across House District 35, voter turnout was 10%. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)
KCAW’s Emily Kwong spoke with Chairman Dorothy Orbison of Precinct No. 2 at 6:30 p.m., when the vote count was at 210.
Orbison: Two years, the primary at this time, we had 810 voters. So we’re pretty slow.KCAW: How do you interpret that data?
Orbison: My guess is that so many of the races are uncontested. There’s only one person running. There’s not a lot of controversy. There are no initiatives or ballot measures of any sort. So there’s just not a lot of interest. Not a lot of campaigning. Not a lot of people were aware we were having an election today.
Precinct No. 1 Chairman Anne Pollnow also saw voters expressing a desire to vote at Harrigan Centennial Hall, which will be complete in October. But Pollnow stressed that both precincts will continue to vote this fall at Grace Harbor and St. Gregory’s.
“I think we’re keeping consistency because we have three elections. The primary, the municipal election, and then the general election. Where you voted today is where you’re going to vote in October and November,” Pollnow said. “Both the municipal and the general election, it seems like it’s going to be busy, so this slow primary was good practice for us.”
During the General Election on November 8th,
