Sitka will publicly test its election tabulators Sept. 3, and voter registration closes Sept. 6

Sitka residents can watch the machines that will count their ballots get checked. The Municipal Clerk's Office will conduct logic and accuracy testing of the automatic tabulating equipment at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, in meeting room 2 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, 330 Harbor Drive. The session is open to the public.

Voters must be registered by Sept. 6 to take part. That date is a Sunday, with Labor Day the day after. Registering online requires an Alaska driver's license or state ID matching Division of Motor Vehicles records; others must use a paper form. The Municipal Clerk's Office can be reached at 907-747-1811.

The test comes ahead of the Oct. 6 Regular Municipal Election. Sitka fills six seats on that ballot: mayor, two Assembly seats and three School Board seats. One School Board seat is a one-year term filling out A. Williams's.

Alaska requires pre-election testing of tabulation equipment. In Sitka the testing is required under Sitka General Code 2.80.370. The Alaska Division of Elections said in a January 2022 document on the state's election process that its tabulation system "is certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission and is thoroughly tested for logic and accuracy prior to each election," and that equipment is never connected to the internet during programming or testing. That describes the state's system. Sitka runs its own municipal election, and its election pages do not say whether the equipment matches.