Voters on the central peninsula braved the rain today to cast ballots in local elections.
But by most accounts, they’re not quite turning out in droves.
“Turnout has been — I want to say — slow, but steady,” said Barb Norbeck, chairperson for one of three Kenai precincts at the Challenger Learning Center. “So we’re not sitting here buffing our nails. We’re keeping busy.”
She said working at the polls as she has for the last 15-or-so years is a good chance to catch up with her neighbors as they come in to vote.
This election, voters at her precinct have a lot to weigh in on, on both city and borough ballots.
There are two open seats on the Kenai City Council, an open Kenai mayor seat and two different ballot propositions for Kenai voters, regarding reapportionment and a deferred maintenance bond for the school district. Voters in the Central Emergency Services area will also vote on a bond to finance the construction of a new station in Soldotna.
“That’s a lot. That’s a lot happening,” she said. “So it’s bringing folks out.”
Voter turnout is historically low in municipal elections on the Kenai Peninsula. In 2021, it hovered around just 12 percent.
Norbeck said voter turnout doesn’t tend to deviate much — though big ballot items will sometimes bring more voters to the polls.
She said that was true when the Kenai Peninsula Borough was weighing in on marijuana regulations in 2017.
“I haven’t seen that kind of interest since then,” Norbeck said.
At noon today, Lisa Gabriel was one of the hardy few waving signs in front of Main Street Tap and Grill in Kenai. Her husband, Brian Gabriel, is running to keep his seat as mayor for the city of Kenai.
She said even though they can fly under the radar for most voters, local elections are critically important.
“It’s where you live. It’s where you pay your taxes. It’s what affects you immediately,” she said.
Current Kenai City Council Member Teea Winger is running to challenge Brian Gabriel for the seat. Winger, also waving signs Tuesday, said she’s been excited to see new voters head to the polls.
“I know a lot of people that don’t express their choice to vote. And they actually went and registered and have voted,” she said. “And I know a lot of 18-year-olds that registered and will be out voting.”
In August, Alaskans elected a new representative to fill out the remainder of Don Young’s term in U.S. Congress. Next month, they’ll head to the polls again to do the same — this time, for a full congressional term. That’s in addition to a slate of state House and Senate races that will be on the ballot this November.
Jodie Titus, working at the Nikiski Community Center, said those elections bring out more voters than local ones. She said they tend to see between 200 and 300 voters for the local, borough races.
“If you compare to the state election, it’s been a lot slower,” she said. “But as you can see, we have a few that come in and then it kind of goes in a lull, and then it picks up again. We expect another pick up, right around 4:30, 5:00, when people get off work.”
Voters in Nikiski are electinga new representative for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. That's one of two contested assembly races. There are also a handful of school board seats up for grabs — in Kalifornsky, and on the eastern and southern peninsula.
And in Soldotna, voters are choosing twonew city council representatives and will decide on whether or not to finance a bond for a new indoor field house.
All Kenai Peninsula polls close at 8 p.m. Norbeck, in Kenai, said she encourages anyone who hasn’t yet to get out and vote.
“This is where we live. This is what affects us, impacts us," she said. "That’s what I would stress for folks — just encourage them to stay interested, because it’s their world.”
Preliminary results for city and borough elections will come in later tonight — though those results will not include absentee ballots. Results will be posted on the borough site here and we’ll post an update on those results on our website as they come in.
Election results will be certified a week from today, on Oct. 11.
