Posted on 10/20/2002 12:10:36 PM PDT by alaskanfan
State sends out ballots with wrong candidates Rush is on to reprint, mail 132,500 correct regional versions
EMPIRE NEWS SERVICES
Regionalized election pamphlets began arriving in voters' mailboxes last week, but about 40 percent of the households initially will receive the wrong version because of an error by the state Division of Elections.
The candidates for House and Senate races are incorrect in the mismailed pamphlets. The error occurred when workers neglected to change a computer table to reflect the new election district numbers after redistricting.
Voters in Eagle River, for instance, got pamphlets with House and Senate candidates for the Interior, Valdez, and part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Voters in Kodiak, in old District 6, received pamphlets intended for the new District 6, which covers part of the Interior.
The rest of the press run of 332,000 went to the right places. Four regional editions of the pamphlet were produced for the election. Information for the statewide races and ballot propositions is identical in all four.
The Oregon printing company that prepared the booklets was rushing to produce 132,500 new ones, officials said Friday, and they're due to be mailed from Anchorage this week.
Election officials found out about the mistake Thursday afternoon, and new booklets were on the presses by 6 p.m., said Virginia Breeze of the elections division.
"It's going to cost $65,000 for printing and shipping," Breeze said. "Postage will run between $25,000 and $30,000." The money will come from the division's redistricting budget.
Affected were 15 of the 40 legislative districts, including all the districts in the Fairbanks area, some in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak.
Separate pamphlets, some as large as 200 pages, were created for four regions. Political candidates must pay between $100 and $350 to appear on the pamphlet's pages, depending on the seat sought.
The pamphlets were printed at 50 cents a copy and it cost about $20,000 to barge them from Oregon, said Elections Director Janet Kowalski, who went to Oregon on Friday to check on the re-printing.
"It's really unfortunate we made a mistake," Kowalski said. "Hindsight is 20-20. I take full responsibility."
Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, who supervises the elections division and who is the Democratic nominee for governor, said "the good news is that nothing was dropped that is fundamental to the balloting process. As soon as we found out about this, we decided we had to fix it, and that's what we're doing."
New versions should start arriving late next week, more than a week ahead of the election. Meanwhile, voters can check the division's Web site for the candidate data or get a copy of the right pamphlet at libraries or election offices.
Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska, told reporters at a press conference Friday the mismailings "probably are a coincidence." Ruedrich said the blame ultimately lies with Ulmer.
"I'm not implying anything, but most of the areas affected are historically Republican," said Ruedrich.
"For anybody to assert that this was done on purpose is just amazing," Ulmer said.
"I'm not implying anything, but most of the areas affected are historically Republican," said Ruedrich.
Things that make you say "What the hell!"
I wonder why these mistakes didn't happen in a historically Democratic area.
Oh Yea!!! Fran Ulmer is supervisor of elections for the state,and Democratic candidate for Governor..........
Nothing to see here, move along.
(steely)
Unfortunately the "Two-Party Cartel" that controls the state of Alaska are the Democrats and the EnvironMENTALists that refuse to allow us to develope our natural resources in an environmentally responsible manner. So it is in a sense an oligarchy, just not the type you are thinking of.
Say it ain't so.
Gives one that warm, fuzzy feeling having the chance to have such a Governor, doesn't it? Heads should roll at Elections; what are the odds of that happening with a touchy, feely supervisor?
The Division of Elections has a near-perfect performance record in the eight years she (Ulmer) has been in charge of the agency.
Why is there an error now when she is running for Governor? And Why did the mistake happen in areas described as "historically Republican?"
It really bothers me that Fran's main sollution to the fiscal problems in Alaska is to start a state income tax.
That the US Supremes have been successfully villianized for their actions in 2000 has served the Rats well. The US Supreme Court refused to intervene after the NJ Supremos disregarded election law and voter intent and allowed the Rat part bosses to manufacture a new scampaign around a retired Senator (who likely will resign after winning the race to be replaced by another back room selected candidate).
This is the "democracy" and "disenfranchised voters" that were supposedly so important in 2000.
Plenty of vote schemes have been discovered this election cycle. Rats steak elections. Plain and simple. Rats are evil. Plain and simple. The fumbling of the political football has signaled that it is open season to lie-cheat-steal to win. When caught in their actions, the response is "we have to keep out the wicked Republicans".
Our nation's health is in serious decline.
And Fran's ads attack Frank on his vote on education issues, when all he is demanding is fiscal responsibility.
IMO Fran has a hard time understanding fiscal responsibility. She has no plan for growing the economic base in Alaska. Her only plan is to raid the permanent fund and initiate an income tax on Alaskans.
It's no wonder that she doesn't want the legislature moved to where the people of the state would have acess to it.
Tell him we are going to vote for him down here on the peninsula....except for Homer, those folks are... well....Homeroids.
Just had to be done huh???
What get cought again??
Janet Kowalski, director of the State Division of Elections, said erroneous mailing labels came from a computer program that had not been updated after the state's redrawn election districts were adopted this year.
They didn't anticipate that this would create any problems with the Election pamphlets?
If this were to happen in the private sector, somebody would be looking for a job.
How did Ms. Kowalski get her job? Who is her supervisor?
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