{"id":191785,"date":"2018-11-30T03:39:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T08:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=191785"},"modified":"2018-11-30T03:39:37","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T08:39:37","slug":"mystery-ballot-could-sway-control-of-alaska-state-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/11\/30\/mystery-ballot-could-sway-control-of-alaska-state-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery ballot could sway control of Alaska state government"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The elections office has said the ballot appeared to be marked for Democrat Kathryn Dodge. (File Photo: Ballotpedia<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JUNEAU, Alaska \u2014 Control of Alaska state government, at least for the next two years, could hinge on a mystery ballot that an election worker found on a table in a Fairbanks voting precinct more than three weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The uncounted ballot could break a tie in an Alaska state House race.<\/p>\n

A decision on whether to count it is expected Friday. The elections office has said the ballot appeared to be marked for Democrat Kathryn Dodge.<\/p>\n

If Republican Bart LeBon wins, the GOP would control the House, Senate and the governor’s office. If Dodge wins, it would set off a mad dash between the parties to build a caucus of at least 21 members needed for a majority in the House.<\/p>\n

Officials said the ballot was found by an election worker on a precinct table on Election Day in a grey secrecy sleeve. It was not counted at the time and was included among ballot materials that arrived in Juneau last Friday for an election review.<\/p>\n

Officials were investigating the ballot before deciding whether to count it. Dodge was tied with LeBon with 2,661 votes apiece heading into a recount Friday.<\/p>\n

Dodge attorney Patrick Munson, in a letter to elections director Josie Bahnke, said Alaska law sets a high threshold for disqualifying a ballot. He said there were 366 ballots issued at the precinct on Election Day but just 365 were run through the optical scanner.<\/p>\n

He said it’s likely this ballot was validly issued and voted and should be counted for Dodge.<\/p>\n

He also wants the Division of Elections to count for Dodge a ballot with ovals marked for her and LeBon but with an \u201cX\u201d over the oval next to LeBon’s name. That ballot wasn’t counted for either candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople kept calling it close,\u201d Dodge said of the race. \u201cI just didn’t know it was going to be squeaky.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Dodge wins, the House would be split 20-20, between Republicans and the remnant of a coalition that is largely comprised of Democrats but includes two Republicans.<\/p>\n

For the candidates, it’s been a three-week rollercoaster ride marked by lead changes before the tie was declared and by the appearance of the mystery ballot.<\/p>\n

Bahnke said she wants to ensure that every vote cast by an eligible voter is counted.<\/p>\n

LeBon, a retired banker, said he has questions about the handling of the ballot and expects a legal challenge from whoever loses the recount. He said questions about other ballots also could be raised during the recount.<\/p>\n

If the race remains tied after the recount and possible legal challenges, state law calls for a winner to be determined \u201cby lot.\u201d A coin toss decided a tied House race in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve come too far to have a coin toss settle this,\u201d LeBon said.<\/p>\n

The current House speaker, Democrat Bryce Edgmon, won the 2006 primary through the coin toss on his way to being elected to the chamber later that year.<\/p>\n

He said he didn’t recall the race being stressful, pointing out that he also had a good job in the fishing community of Dillingham to focus on if he had lost.<\/p>\n

On the day of the coin toss, he said his son fell sick and had to be taken to the emergency room, which occupied his attention much of the day.<\/p>\n

Remembering the coin toss is exciting, he said, but the experience is \u201cnot something I would wish for anybody to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JUNEAU, Alaska \u2014 Control of Alaska state government, at least for the next two years, could hinge on a mystery …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":191786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-becky-bohrer","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}