Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing legislation that would shorten the window for early voting in statewide elections and make other changes to the way elections are conducted. The bill would require all mail ballots to be received by the Division of Elections by Election Day,

The Alaska Legislature will take up election reform proposals this session, with Gov. Mike Dunleavy introducing a bill through the House, and the Senate majority caucus planning to introduce its own reforms on Friday.

The 1.6% rejection rate in the November 2024 election is significantly lower than in the 2022 special primary, when high rejection rates in mostly-Native districts led to civil rights lawsuits.

Nearly 130 bills and resolutions were formally introduced on the first real work day this session for the Alaska State Legislature, including a proposal by Gov. Dunleavy establishing tribally operated public schools and a Juneau lawmaker seeking to make guessing snow accumulation a form of charitable gaming statewide.

With aligned majorities in the House and Senate, priorities are set to include education funding, public pensions and election reform.

Alaska election workers rejected 1,303 absentee ballots in the November election, in many cases because they were missing a witness signature, according to data obtained by the Anchorage Daily News. Election workers rejected 512 ballots because of “improper or insufficient witnessing” — a requirement that some lawmakers say is unnecessary.

Alaska legislators on Friday unveiled a second batch of measures that were prefiled ahead of Tuesday's start to the legislative session. Eighty-one measures were announced last week. A further 20 bills were unveiled Friday — 10 are set to be introduced in the state Senate and 10 in the House.

Several lawmakers also submitted elections-related bills as part of prefiled legislation ahead of the start of the session.

Alaska lawmakers begin the 34th Legislative Session, focusing on education funding, election reform, and potential changes to the Permanent Fund amid a $1.5 billion budget gap.

Alaska House lawmakers debate education funding, election reform, and federal policies like immigration and renaming Denali. These topics are key priorities in the 34th Legislative Session.

The first day always involves more pomp and circumstance than legislating, and this time was no exception — but senators offered some clues about the road ahead.