Alaska Passes Bipartisan Election Reform Bill

0:00It's March 25th. You're listening to Anchorage News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey with The Story. Alaska's lawmakers just passed a major bipartisan election reform bill after years of negotiation. The House approved it 23-16 on Monday, and the Senate gave it the green light 16-4 on Wednesday. This compromise aims to streamline voting while boosting security for the state's elections. Key changes focus on making absentee and mail in voting smoother. Voters will soon track their ballots online to confirm receipt. If there's a small error like a missing signature, election officials will contact you to fix it before the general election in November. The state will also cover postage on return envelopes, costing around $50-$60,000 to help especially in remote areas. Lawmakers from both parties champion the bill, including Anchorage Democrat Senator Bill Wheelachowski and Homer Republican Representative Sarah Vance.

1:01They say a bill is trust by ensuring votes count accurately, no matter how you cast them. Whirlpool workers get paybumps too, and tribal IDs will work for voter verification. On security, the bill cleans up voter rolls by moving inactive people like those who have voted or signed petitions in two years to inactive status. After a warning letter, they can still vote with a question ballot. absentee processing starts earlier with more frequent updates and almost arrive within 10 days after election day. Now the bill heads to Governor Mike Dunlevy for his signature. Supporters hope he'll approve it, given input from his team, but he's not saying yet. This could reshape how Alaskan's vote starting this fall.