Tuesday is the last day to turn in ballots for the Anchorage election

Update, 8 p.m. Tuesday: Vote centers, in-person voting and secure drop boxes are now closed in Anchorage’s city election. Preliminary results are expected after 8:30 p.m.; check back at ADN.com/cityelection for updates as more information is available.

Original story:

Tuesday is the final day to cast ballots in the 2024 Anchorage municipal election. Residents will pick a mayor and three school board seats, and decide nine bond propositions and ballot measures.

For voters who have not yet turned in their ballots, there are three options:

• Mail. Ballots being sent through the U.S. Postal Service have to be postmarked no later than April 2. Per the municipal clerk’s guidance, “If you are mailing your ballot return envelope the day before or on Election Day, ask a postal official to hand-cancel/hand-stamp the envelope with a postmark.”

• Drop box. There are 18 secure drop boxes across the municipality where ballots can be deposited any time of day or night before 8 p.m. Tuesday. Locations are available on the municipal elections website.

• In-person voting. The city has three in-person voting centers: at City Hall downtown, at the Loussac Library, and in Room 170 of the Eagle River Town Center building. Those facilities are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Voters whose ballots were lost or damaged can use this option, or bring in the ballots they received in the mail. The centers also offer options to help voters with vision and mobility impairments.

Voters interested in tracking their ballots can sign up to get automatic alerts at anchorage.ballottrax.net/voter.

When to expect results

As of Monday evening, city election officials had received 45,893 ballots. Municipal employees process ballots as they arrive, and begin tabulating returns after the polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Partial results will be posted Tuesday evening. Results will be updated in the following days as ballots continue to arrive by mail.

Though early results tend to clearly indicate which candidates and causes have won, returns are not official until after they’ve been certified by election officials.

Final results in the regular city election are scheduled to be certified April 23.

Ballots in an anticipated runoff in the mayoral election are scheduled to be sent to Anchorage voters in May. Those would be due back on or before 8 p.m. on May 14.

On the ballot

Drawing the most attention this year is the mayor’s race. Incumbent Dave Bronson is running for a second term against nine challengers, including former Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance, former state Rep. Chris Tuck and former Anchorage Economic Development Corp. leader Bill Popp.

[Q&As with 2024 candidates for Anchorage mayor and school board]

[A guide to the 9 bonds and propositions on the ballot in the Anchorage city election]

Because of the size of the field in the mayoral race, most election-watchers do not expect any candidate to receive the 45% of the vote necessary to win outright, which means that the top two vote-getters will face off against each other in a runoff election ending May 14.

Three of the seven seats on the Anchorage School Board will be decided, as well. This year three incumbents each face challengers.

There are also bond propositions worth a total of $70.6 million for capital improvement projects, two new cemeteries, facility upgrades and more. A separate school bond for $62.7 million will also be decided. One measure would change how the city’s top health official is selected, making the appointment subject to Assembly approval. Another measure would spend $5 million buying, installing and maintaining 10 public restrooms around the municipality.