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Alaska to pilot smartphone ballots in local elections
( NewsNation) — A city in Alaska is preparing to become the first in the United States to allow voters to cast ballots from their smartphones in its upcoming municipal election.
Anchorage will experiment with internet voting in local elections, betting that its ease and security will win over voters even in an era of election conspiracy theories.
The largest city in Alaska is about to undertake an experiment that feels both inevitable and impossibly futuristic in an era of pervasive mistrust toward elections: allowing all voters to cast ballots from their smartphones.
By-mail options for voters in the state’s most populous city include casting ballots electronically, which has been offered since 2018. A more recent “secure document portal” further empowers residents.
Juneau voters favored ranked choice voting at the state level, but nearly everyone who testified at Monday's Assembly meeting spoke against adopting it locally.
Claman cites experience working across the aisle on a variety of issues. Claman and former state Sen. Tom Begich are the only Democrats in a large field.
Mike Shower is a former state senator and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Alaska.
State Sen. Shelley Hughes said she is resigning to run for governor, days after fellow Republican Sen. Mike Shower resigned to run for lieutenant governor.
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