Election day: 12:30 p.m.

This is a little old, but I think still valuable information: As of Sunday, there were about 45,000 early and absentee votes counted. Partisan breakdown: R-32%. D-18%. Non-Partisan and Undeclared 46%.

Dirty party politics in Ketchikan! 

Necessity is the mother of invention in Alaska:

As an introduction to the following: While he was flipping through the Anchorage Press at Tastee Freezee, Don Smith was overheard the other day saying, “Englishman, goddamn not American telling us how to vote.”
Ivan Moore

This from Frank McQueary, who needs no introduction:

McQueary

 

A comment from faithful reader AH HA:

Turn out looks quite high at the Juneau Valley polling locations. I checked at 0945 this morning and was surprised to see the parking lot at one of the polling places more than half full. Election workers at that location reported that business has been “Very Busy all morning”.

How about that! You can get people out to vote… Something in the neighborhood of $70 million was spent in Alaska for this election with 50 million of that just for the senate race.

Alaska Division of elections shows the number of registered voters in the state as being 509,011 and that translates into $137 per vote if you get them all. My guess is that even with very heavy turnout only about sixty percent will actually vote. So effectively, something like $229.00 was spent for every vote cast in Alaska.

Wouldn’t you rather they just mailed you a check?

I’ll be live blogging all day. You can help by sending me stuff as you see it at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com. Thanks!

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6 thoughts on “Election day: 12:30 p.m.”

  1. joe blow

    If memory serves, Leesa Mercosko won by 10,000 votes and 8,000 of that margin came from the Bush. I don’t think Begich will do as well out there as she did given that some high profile Native corps and leaders endorsed Sullivan. Further, Dem turnout will be down because it is not a Presidential year and the news from other states will be bad by 4 o’clock our time.

  2. AH HA

    What’s your take on the questions? I’m calling he Marijuana issue a ‘will pass’ but really close..

  3. Amanda Post author

    Historically in AK Ds have under-performed and Rs over-performed. I think both will over-perform this time, but the numbers just aren’t there for the Ds. Last night, I finally got a factoid that I have spent weeks looking for: rural AK only accounts for 8 percent of the vote. Hence my predictions.

  4. AH HA

    I think your demographics are correct.

    what is apparent is that the republicans had about one percent more of their registered voters to the early polls and so did the Undeclared / Non-Partisan voters.

    Probably not direct evidence of a lean on way or another but it is evidence of greater interest on the part of Republicans and Undeclared / Non-Partisan voters and indirectly that might be evidence of a lean to the Right. Particularly if the Republicans continue to maintain that one percent edge in voter turnout.

    One has to wonder, is not having a Democrat on the ticket for Governor going to hurt the democrats as far as voter interest / turn out? Or is Begich able to carry that for the party?

  6. Anonymous

    Isn’t the breakdown of absentee ballots pretty representative of state wide demographics? If so, I find that interesting.

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