Kodiak posts its election guide in Tagalog for the island's Filipino voters

Kodiak has posted its guide to the Oct. 6 borough election online in English and Tagalog — part of the borough's Voting Rights Act commitments to a Filipino community large enough that the state recognizes Kodiak for providing Filipino-language voting assistance.

The borough has been translating election materials for its Tagalog-speaking residents since at least 2007. A 2020 UCLA study pointed to bilingual materials like these as important to keeping Filipino and other Asian and Pacific Islander voters from being shut out of the process.

The election asks voters to fill four of the seven Borough Assembly seats — three full three-year terms and one shorter, one-year seat — along with two School Board seats. The online pamphlet includes a precinct map, sample ballots, candidate statements, and an application to vote by mail, which the Clerk's Office can also translate.

At a recent candidate forum, Mark Vizcocho put it simply: "Each vote represents an opinion, a concern, a voice."

Early voting runs Sept. 21 through Oct. 5 at the Borough Building. Anyone planning a write-in campaign, or wanting to vote by mail, has until 3 p.m. Sept. 29. Polls are open Oct. 6 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.