Anchorage elections office reports fewer signature rejections, discusses pop-up vote centers, signature updates and livestream changes

Municipal Clerk Jamie Hines told the Quality Municipal Services, Ethics and Elections Committee on April 30 that Anchorage’s election operation saw fewer ballot rejections for signature mismatch in the most recent election and reviewed proposals to expand access and change some operating rules.

Hines said the number of rejections for “no sig match” fell from the typical “in the 6 hundreds” to “about 3 86 this year,” crediting a signature database developed in 2023 and built in 2024 that preserves wet (paper) signatures collected over time and prioritizes them over electronic DMV signatures.

The database, she said, draws signatures from the state voter registration file and the division’s cure-letter follow-up process. “People just don't sign the same on the electronic pads as they do on a real piece of paper,” Hines said.

Why it matters: Committee members raised access and security issues that could affect ballot acceptance, voter convenience and worker safety. The committee discussed opening additional permanent vote centers and temporary “pop-up” centers to boost turnout in underserved neighborhoods, a code change to allow in-person signature updates under Title 28, and whether to limit round-the-clock livestreaming of the election center for safety reasons.

Key facts and proposals

- Signature rejections and database: Hines said rejections for “no sig match” typically run in the 600s but were “about 3 86 this year.” She said the 2023–24 database lets the office keep paper signatures as higher priority than DMV electronic signatures, which she and staff said are less consistent with voters’ wet signatures.

- Cure process and scale: Hines said roughly 50 people a year repeatedly receive no-sig-match letters, but the list changes yearly. Through the cure process, signatures can be updated and added to the database; Hines said she would check how many cure letters resulted in corrected signatures.

- Pop-up and permanent vote centers: The office proposed exploring pop-up vote centers in locations such as Muldoon Library, Mountain View Library and the Girdwood library and discussed the Anchorage School District (ASD) administration building on Northern Lights and Boniface as a possible permanent site. Current static vote centers named in the meeting included the Eagle River Community Center and City Hall (and an additional location previously opened at the Marston venue during a 2021 runoff).

Operational details discussed: vote center hours are presently 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; pop-ups would likely need to close earlier (around 4 p.m.) so teams can balance and return ballots to the election center by about 5 p.m. Hines said a pop-up team would be about four to five people.

- Signature update code change: Hines floated amending the code in “Title 28” to allow voters to come to the clerk’s office or election center with ID and two identifiers and submit an updated signature to place on file, to reduce recurring no-sig-match letters.

- Livestreaming: Hines raised worker-safety concerns about continuous 24/7 livestreaming of the election center, and suggested exploring alternatives such as a delayed feed, moving the drop box camera so it does not capture vehicles, or restricting continuous live feed to hours when staff are on site. Hines provided a history of views: about 3,500 views in 2021, 1,500 in 2022, about 1,000 in 2023, 600 (regular) and 286 (runoff) in 2024, and 208 daytime and 81 nighttime views in 2025 over two months.

Committee discussion and staff direction

- Equity and placement: Committee members supported the pop-up idea in principle but emphasized equity in placement. Zach Johnson, committee member, said, “I think I generally like the idea of pops up … but if we're going to do this to make sure we do it in a way that feels equitable,” adding that the committee should adopt a clear method (by district or population center) so some neighborhoods are not advantaged over others.

- Technical and policy follow-up: Members asked staff to check how many cure letters result in corrected signatures, to research code implications for storing ballots at pop-up sites or returning them nightly, and to investigate other jurisdictions’ livestreaming practices. Hines said staff will pull that information and confirm code language tied to Title 28.

- Timeline: Hines said the office aims to coordinate any Title 28 updates with an existing ranked-choice voting ordinance process: staff plan to bring proposed code edits through the committee cycle this summer and have the ordinance and code changes reviewed in time for the public hearings tied to the ranked-choice voting ordinance (a public hearing already scheduled for Sept. 9), and to introduce changes before the budget cycle so the full Assembly can consider them afterward.

Distinguishing discussion from action

All items discussed were exploratory; no motions or formal votes were taken during this meeting. Committee members asked staff to research operational, legal and equity implications and return with information; Hines said she would gather counts from the cure process, research other jurisdictions’ livestreaming practices through professional networks and prepare code-language drafts for Title 28 updates.

Closing: The committee held audience participation with no public comments and ended the meeting early.