The ability to cast a ballot isn’t always guaranteed in Alaska’s far-flung Native villages
The polling place in the tiny Arctic village of Kaktovik never opened when Alaska had its primary election this summer because there was no trained staff to run the precinct
KAKTOVIK, Alaska (AP) — Early last summer, George Kaleak, a whaling captain in the tiny Alaska Native village of Kaktovik, on an island in the Arctic Ocean just off the state’s northern coast, pinned a flyer to the blue, ribbon-lined bulletin board in the community center.
“Attention residents,” it read. “In search of elections chairperson to conduct the August and November elections. … If interested please contact the State of Alaska Nome Elections.”
No one was interested, Kaleak said, and the state failed to provide an elections supervisor or poll workers.
When the primary arrived on Aug. 20, Kaktovik’s polling station didn't open. There was nowhere for the village’s 189 registered voters to cast a ballot. Kaleak, who also is an adviser to the regional government, didn’t even try.
