Sitka opens early voting Sept. 21 for six seats

Sitka opens early voting Sept. 21 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, two weeks before the Oct. 6 municipal election.

Six seats are on the ballot: mayor, two Assembly seats and three School Board seats.

Early voting runs weekday mornings and afternoons through Oct. 5, plus two Saturdays, Sept. 26 and Oct. 3. A wheelchair-accessible booth and an accessible voting machine are available there and at every precinct on Election Day.

The deadline that catches people is earlier. Voter registration closes Sunday, 30 days before the election, which matters most to anyone who recently moved or is turning 18 this fall.

Absentee voting works three ways. Mail applications are due Sept. 29, with ballots going out Sept. 14; a returned ballot has to be postmarked by Oct. 6 and arrive by Oct. 9. Ballots by fax or email can be requested until 5 pm on Election Day and must come back by 8 pm, and email voters need a way to print and scan or photograph the ballot. Voters who cannot get to a polling place because of age, illness or disability can send someone to pick up a ballot for them starting Sept. 21.

The clerk's office will publicly test the vote-counting equipment at 1 pm Thursday at the hall.

Polls are open 7 am to 8 pm on Oct. 6.