By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 24, 2026 – Fall brings gales. Fall brings snow. Fall brings ice, sleet, and driveways that need shoveling and sanding.
It brings the realization that you should have changed those tires last week. It brings the car battery that gives up on the very morning you need it most.
This is Alaska. We know these things happen. The waves are breaking on the western coast and wind is howling at 75 mph, as winter marches toward us. So why would we leave voting until the last possible day?
Early voting continues through Nov. 2 at specific locations, with hours varying by site. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. You can check your community’s locations and hours at the Alaska Division of Elections website.
My advice: Get your vote banked.
If you already know how you intend to vote, make the trip now. Just do it. Once you have cast your ballot, an unexpected snowstorm, a dead battery, or a family emergency won’t keep you from getting to the polls. You have already done it.
There is some encouraging news on participation:
As of Oct. 23, the On Point Politics early-vote tracker reported 30,999 Alaska ballots cast: 20,436 in person and 10,563 returned by mail. The tracker draws its counts from state election offices through civicAPI. It also reported 46,626 mail ballots requested, meaning many were still outstanding.
A day earlier, the Alaska Beacon reported 26,450 ballots cast as of late Thursday morning. The numbers are moving. Alaskans are getting the job done.
For perspective, the Division of Elections reported 24,018 ballots cast on Oct. 28, 2022, also 11 days before that year’s election.
This year’s roughly 31,000 is about 29% higher. Reporting snapshots are rough comparisons, but the numbers offer encouragement after the slow start I wrote about earlier this week.
Democratic-leaning voters lead Alaska’s opening early vote as overall participation trails 2022
But someone else’s ballot is not your ballot.
Perhaps you enjoy the tradition of voting on Election Day. I get that and I do, too. There is something satisfying about seeing your neighbors at the polling place and being traditional about it.
But there is also something satisfying about looking out at wet snow blowing sideways on Nov. 3 and knowing your vote is already cast.
For many Alaskans, voting takes a deliberate effort. The polling place is quite a drive away. A ride must be arranged. Work schedules, children, and care for an elderly parent are factored in. Add bad roads or a sudden illness, and a manageable errand becomes a much harder undertaking.
Early voting gives you more opportunities to fit that responsibility into your life. Waiting leaves you with fewer.
We all have opinions about Alaska’s future. We talk about the cost of living, our schools, public safety, resource development, and the people making decisions with our money. We read the stories, debate the candidates, and worry about what comes next. Voting is where we turn those opinions into action.
So make a plan. Check the hours. Arrange that ride. Take care of it while you have the opportunity.
Then encourage someone you know to do the same. As Gov. Dunleavy wrote earlier this week, get five people to vote. That’s a huge help.
Alaska’s weather will follow its own schedule. Your battery will not consult the election calendar. Life will not promise to leave Nov. 3 open.
Bank your vote now. Our future deserves more than the hope that nothing will get in the way.
Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.
2 thoughts on “Suzanne Downing: Bank your vote before Alaska’s weather makes other plans for you”
I voted on the first day-last Monday. I ranked my votes for the candidates and voted correctly on Ballot Measures 2 and 3. But it was very peculiar to me to have a poll worker lady, as she handed me my ballot, instruct me saying, “You do not have to rank your votes, but you CAN rank your votes. She said this to my wife and every single voter in line. But I’d been told by “those who know” that if you do NOT rank the candidates, then your vote will become “exhausted”, unless of course there is only one candidate as is the case with JKT. SO, I thought that this poll worker was trying to influence the election-which, hacked me off.
I have been to the only early voting location at the former Sears Mall in Anchorage FOUR times. This location allows voting only during regular work hours. This means these state workers close up operations at 5:00 p.m.. Each time I showed up in the middle of the day, there was a long line and wait times were around 45 minutes. In order to allow for easy early voting there really should be more options and less wait times. It’s good that people are turning out to vote, but it appears that there is little consideration given to working people who try to vote early in Anchorage and cannot give up over half of our lunch hours to do so. So, after four attempts I have not voted.