At Monday night’s City and Borough of Juneau Assembly meeting, assembly members unanimously passed an ordinance to spend $700,000 to turn a city-owned warehouse near Thane Road into a ballot-counting center — a move that could pave the way for future vote-by-mail elections.<\/p>\n
The assembly has been considering a plan to open a local ballot-counting center for the last several months, as members mull over the best way to conduct future municipal elections in the capital city.<\/p>\n
According to materials shared before the meeting, the $700,000 approved to configure the Thane Warehouse and purchase the equipment needed to support a vote-by-mail election comes from the general fund.<\/p>\n
According to CBJ City Manager Rorie Watt, about $330,000 of the money will go toward the renovation with the balance going to equipment expenses.<\/p>\n
Officials expect the new ballot counting center to be complete in time to conduct the 2022 municipal election at the center.<\/p>\n
Elections in Juneau<\/p>\n
By city charter, CBJ holds a municipal election on the first Tuesday of October each year. This year’s election will take place on Oct. 5 and will be conducted primarily by mail, with two in-person voting opportunities.<\/p>\n
Elections officials are mailing ballots to all of Juneau’s registered voters on Sept. 14. Residents can drop their completed ballots off between Sept. 16 and Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
City staff members will take the ballots to Anchorage for counting, as Juneau lacks the equipment needed to count mail-in ballots locally.<\/p>\n