Alaska’s mail-in special primary election prompts a lawsuit. The governor announces the resignation of Alaska’s education commissioner. And a who’s who list of Alaska legislators not running for reelection keeps growing.
There’s more news in “Five Things to Know.”
Judge upholds election lawsuit
An Anchorage Superior Court judge ruled Friday in favor of the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights in a challenge over how Alaska is conducting its vote-by-mail special primary to fill Alaska’s only U.S. House seat.
The special mail-in primary — which was scheduled to conclude today — is to pick a candidate to finish the remaining months of the late Rep. Don Young’s term in office. The 88-year-old Congressman died in March.
The Commission for Human Rights claimed in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that visually impaired voters have not received sufficient accommodations to cast ballots in the U.S. House special primary race, the state’s first mail-in election.
The ballots were mailed out to voters, who are expected to fill them out and return them.
But Judge Una Gandbhir ruled Friday that the results of the special primary cannot be certified until visually impaired voters are able to cast their ballots “independently, secretly and privately.”
Gandbhir wrote in her analysis that “on the surface, this case pits the interests of disabled Alaskans against the rest of Alaskan voters.”
The election had been expected to be certified by June 25. With the court injunction, it is unclear whether that deadline will be met.
The Department of Law disclosed Friday that it plans to petition the Alaska Supreme Court, asking it to allow the election to proceed.
The special general election is scheduled to take place on Aug. 16, the same day as Alaska’s regular primary.
Named as defendants are Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, who oversees elections; the Alaska Division of Elections; and Gail Fenumiai, the division director.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs argue that Alaska’s first mail-in election denies voters who are visually impaired the opportunity to cast their ballots without assistance.
The lawsuit claims that the Division of Elections did not communicate with Alaska voters who are visually impaired about their alternatives, including whether they could use ADA-accessible voting tablets.
The lawsuit also claims that the detailed written instructions, which accompanied the mail-in ballots, posed challenges.
In previous elections, the Division of Elections has provided special touch screen voting machines for the visually impaired, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, there are polling places with accommodations for the special primary, but not enough are available for the people who need them.
The lawsuit states there are accommodations for visually impaired voters in only five of 170 in-person polling places opened across the state.
The special primary day is June 11 — the deadline by which voters must have their ballots postmarked.
The day after Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveiled major reforms to early education in Alaska, the state’s education commissioner announced his resignation.
Dr. Michael Johnson will leave his role on June 30 after serving for six years.
“It is only fitting that we cap off Michael’s years of service to the state with the historic passage of the Alaska Reads Act which earned bipartisan support and will greatly improve the trajectory for Alaska’s students — a feat that could not have been achieved without him,” Dunleavy said in a prepared statement.
The changes to early education that Dunleavy announced Tuesday include the introduction of statewide voluntary pre-kindergarten and a $30 per student increase to the per pupil funding formula in Alaska, which has not increased since fiscal 2017.
Rep. Grier Hopkins said the governor’s reforms do not do enough to support students and take control away from families. The legislation gives schools more authority to hold back students deemed under-performing. “The Alaska Reads Act is mostly a huge increase in standardized testing, which is expensive and takes time away from our students’ learning,” Hopkins told the News-Miner.
Johnson did not speak at Tuesday’s press conference. The governor’s office released a prepared statement from Johnson about his resignation. “I’ll look back on my time as commissioner with enormous gratitude. I will continue to support Gov. Dunleavy and an effective public education system in Alaska,” Johnson said.
How high will gas prices go?
Gas prices have gone up 25 cents per gallon in just one week, reports AAA.
AAA looked at the average national price of gasoline at the pump. The price was $4.87 per gallon this week, up from $4.62 per gallon, AAA said.
In Fairbanks, the cost to fuel a vehicle was higher. Chevron, at 809 Cushman St., was selling gas for $5.29 a gallon on Friday, Gas Buddy reported. Gas at Costco, at 48 College Road, was $5.46 per gallon.
Although Alaska’s gas prices top prices in many other states, California’s prices are the highest, averaging $6.34 per gallon.
The increase in gas prices is due to higher demand and volatility in the global market from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russia is a major supplier of gas to European countries, many of which have reduced their purchases or banned them altogether.
Governor’s trade mission to Japan
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s recent foreign trade mission to Japan explored the potential opportunities of natural gas exports to the Asian country.
In four days of meetings, Dunleavy and Alaska energy officials met with leaders from the Japan Energy Resource Agency, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Corp. and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, among other companies and government agencies.
“There appears to be, due to the shift across the world away from older fuel sources, and the simultaneous need for supplies that are not risked due to political instability, a role that Alaska natural gas could play,” Dunleavy said in a prepared statement.
The governor was exploring the potential of Alaska LNG exports along with clean hydrogen, Petroleum News reported.
Hydrogen fuel cells increasingly are seen as a clean alternative in the maritime industry. Shipping accounts for a quarter of all carbon emissions in the transportation industry, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reports.
The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. also was represented at the trade meetings in Japan.
Who’s not running for re-election
The who’s who list of legislative leaders not running for reelection in 2022 continues to grow.
Rep. Chris Tuck, the Alaska House Majority Leader, said this week he will not run again. Tuck said he does not want to compete against fellow Democratic lawmakers based on the new boundaries of Alaska’s redistricting map.
Rep. Andy Jospheson, who is seeking reelection, is in the same district. Tuck has served in the House for 14 years.
Fifty-nine of the 60 seats in the Alaska Legislature are open.
Other high-profile incumbents who will not seek re-election are Senate President Peter Micciche, a Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, a Democrat.
