Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly weighs hand-count pamphlet text

Fairbanks North Star Borough voters weighing a ballot measure that would end machine vote counting could learn in their election pamphlet that manual counting takes longer than electronic tabulation. The pamphlet language would also tell them the measure carries no cost estimate. The Borough Assembly is scheduled to consider that language at a special meeting Thursday, Aug. 20, at 5:30 p.m. in the Mona Lisa Drexler Assembly Chambers. The proposed text says the overall cost of switching to hand counting would depend on voter turnout, staffing requirements and the number of races on the ballot, factors the borough has not yet analyzed. Presiding Officer Scott Crass called the meeting. Borough code requires the Assembly to approve information of a strictly factual nature for each proposition in the Municipal Election Information Pamphlet. The language remains pending Assembly approval and is not yet final.

Borough Clerk April Trickey recertified the initiative on Aug. 5 for placement on the Oct. 6 ballot as Proposition 3. The measure would require manual hand counting beginning with the 2027 election cycle for all regular, special and runoff borough elections. It would also bar electronic tabulation systems from producing or certifying official results.

Supporters of Proposition 3 present hand-count-only elections as a way to improve election integrity and to keep counting decisions with local voters rather than electronic tabulation systems. They argue that ballots should be counted by registered borough voters and that official counts should not rely on machines. The Fairbanks fight is one instance of a wider election-administration debate. Hand-count advocates frame manual tallies as more trustworthy, while critics emphasize speed and administrative burden.

The proposed pamphlet text lays out seven points. Regular ballots would be counted at polling places on Election Day, in public view to the extent practicable, and only registered borough voters would conduct the counts. Questioned, absentee and special needs ballots would be counted at a central location. The text also notes that tabulators currently alert a voter to marking problems and let that voter fix the ballot. Under the initiative, a hand-counting board would instead determine voter intent under election procedures. The final point tells voters that if the measure passes, the ordinance becomes law for two years. Neither the Assembly nor the voters could repeal, modify or negate it during that period.

The initiative reached the ballot after a signature drive that required 2,391 valid signatures, according to KUAC. The station also reported that in March 2025 the Assembly Finance Committee declined to renew a roughly $220,000, five-year sole-source contract with Dominion, now Liberty Vote.

Citizens' comments at the special meeting are limited to items on the agenda and to three minutes per person. Voters must register or update their registration by Sept. 6 to cast a ballot Oct. 6. Early voting at the Noel Wien Library runs Sept. 21 through Oct. 1. The deadline to apply for a by-mail absentee ballot is Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. Electronic absentee applications close Oct. 5 at noon.