Thursday, the League of Women Voters of the Central Kenai Peninsula will host an informational session on voting issues. Kenai Peninsula Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship will be the keynote speaker. She calls it "sort of voting 101."
"They've asked me to cover how to register to vote, making sure you are registered to vote, the different options for voting that we have in the borough. The security of the voting system, considerations regarding potentially of going by mail in the future. They asked me to discuss redistricting. That'll be coming up soon - in 2021, probably," Blankenship said. "So basically just an overview of our voting process here in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the different options that are available to people."
And speaking of registration options, Alaskans are now automatically registered upon filling out a Permanent Fund Dividend application.
"When I was on there I kinda looked for that, and essentially what it is, is it's an opt-out program," Blankenship said. "So you will be registered to vote, unless you opt out."
This is Blankenship's second presentation for the League of Women Voters. She did one in the summer for folks considering running for office:
"It went really well. We did it at the end of July prior to candidate filing opening for the borough. And essentially, I talked about the registration, the requirement, the essential 'how-to' run for office," she said. "And then Mr. Sprague, Mayor Sprague at the time, talked about campaigns and best practices for campaigning."
The voting issues seminar will be Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the assembly chambers at the Borough Building in Soldotna. It’s open to the public, and Blankenship says she's ready to answer residents' questions and hear their concerns.