Alaska Rep. Vance Fights for Bipartisan Voting Bill

0:00It's April 21st. This is Anchorage News Today, powered by AI. Alaska Representative Sarah Vance from Homer is pushing Governor Mike Dunlevy hard-not-to-vito Senate Bill 64. This bill updates the state's voting laws with fixes like ballot curing for small errors, easier removal of inactive voters, a new ballot tracking, system, and a rural elections liaison. The governor has until the end of the month to decide. The bill passed last month with strong bipartisan backing, getting votes from all-house and Senate majority members, plus three-house Republicans, including Vance. She teamed up with Anchorage Democrat Senator Bill Wallachowski to finalize it, blending priorities from both sides. Now Vance is catching heat from Alaska Republican insiders for crossing the aisle. Last week, she fired back in a social media video, calling out party games that scare off good candidates. Critics like conservative writer Suzanne Downing labeled the bill a problem, saying a boost rural voting access where Democrats do well.

1:03Vance points out key parts match a 2022 bill from Dunlevy's own team, under then-Lutinian Governor Kevin Meyer, including voter roll, clean-ups, and tracking. She talked to the governor over the weekend, and he said he'd do what's best for Alaskans. His spokesperson stayed quiet on plans. With Dunlevy vetoes it, lawmakers could override with two-thirds support, which Vance calls doable since its solid policy over politics. This stays separate from fights over ranked choice voting, focusing instead on making every Alaskan vote count easier.