What to do if you received a ballot in the mail addressed to someone else

Many Juneau voters have started receiving their official ballot for the City and Borough of Juneau’s Oct. 6 By-Mail Municipal Election. There’s a chance you may have also received a ballot package addressed to a former resident at your mailing address or someone who’s not presently a resident of your household. If this happens, please mark it as “Return to Sender – not at this address” and then return it to the post office, put it back in your mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up, or bring it to a Juneau Vote Center at City Hall or the Valley Library starting September 21.

Here’s why you may have received these extra ballots: Ballots for CBJ’s election were mailed to all registered voters in Juneau at the mailing address listed in the State of Alaska Division on Elections voter registration database as of the registration deadline of September 6. The individual associated with the extra ballot you received hasn’t updated their voter registration or hasn’t requested to be removed from the voter roll. Ballots marked “Return to Sender – not at this address” will eventually go to the Alaska Division on Elections for additional processing.

How does CBJ ensure that double voting or someone else voting my ballot isn’t happening?

Ballot envelopes are assigned a unique barcode for each individual voter. Upon return, only one ballot envelope from any voter is accepted – the first one in. Others are rejected. (As a reminder, voting more than once in the same election, with the intent that your vote be counted more than once, is a felony under Alaska law.)

But how do you know the first ballot returned with my name on it was actually voted by me? What happens if someone intercepts my mail and votes my ballot?

Election Officials ensure that a returned ballot is voted by the correct individual through a signature verification process. Every return ballot envelope must be signed by the voter. The voter’s signature is validated based on official voter signatures already on file with the State of Alaska (through documents like your voter’s registration document, prior election materials, motor vehicle transactions, PFD application, etc.). Election officials who adjudicate signatures are trained with techniques used to identify matches and forgeries. If two trained election officials agree that the signature doesn’t match, the voter is contacted and provided an opportunity to cure the discrepancy.

If I moved and forgot to update my voter registration, will someone else be able to vote the ballot that went to my old address?

The signature verification process will make sure someone else doesn’t vote your ballot. In addition, if you did move and forgot to update your voter registration but want to vote, go to a Juneau Vote Center to vote a replacement ballot in person. (You will be required to provide identification and a signature to verify your identity.) When a new ballot package is issued to you, your previous ballot package will be voided.

For more information on CBJ’s Oct. 6 Municipal Election, call the CBJ Elections Hotline at 364-7401, email [email protected], or go to CBJ’s Elections webpage.