To those still unsure about mail-in voting, I offer the following: My elder son turned 18 last month and recently voted in the municipal election. He sat down at the dining room table with his ballot, the League of Women Voters pamphlet, and his phone to access candidate websites. When he had questions those resources did not adequately answer, he reviewed the candidate questionnaire co-produced by Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News, and even asked me for a little information. (Poor kid; he received a primer on why Anchorage has so many service areas and how they work.)
I certainly didn’t tell him how to vote, not that it would’ve done any good, but I’m confident he made informed choices that reflect his values.
Contrast that with the experience of another young voter, some years back, accompanied to the polls by her proud, then-state legislator father. As he related the story to me, he was bemusedly embarrassed when she called out from her booth, “Dad, why can’t I find your name on my ballot?” Of course, those were the days of closed primaries, but that’s a subject for another letter.
— Patrick Flynn
Anchorage
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