by Mel Green

On Friday, April 13, I I was one of many concerned Anchorage voters who went to the Anchorage Assembly chambers in the Loussac Library to observe the Assembly’s work session on the numerous irregularities of the April 3 municipal election. I was there to livetweet the session (@bentalaska); I’ll write more about the meeting on Sunday.

I used the hashtags #election and #fb (which sends Selective Tweets to Bent Alaska’s Facebook wall); I’ve removed them from this compilation to reduce clutter.

Barbara Gruenstein calls for independent investigation

One piece of early news: Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein wrote a letter to the Anchorage Assembly seconding the call from the ACLU of Alaska for an independent investigation of the April 3 election. She wrote,

I am recommending that Anchorage engage an independent investigator to review the recent April 3, 2012 Municipal Election. Hopefully, a report from an independent source will serve to add clarity to the issues which arose during the election. I have every confidence in the ability of the Municipal Attorney and this office to conduct an impartial investigation. However the public has been exposed to a mix of fact, rumor and speculation regarding the election, and an independent investigation will provide analysis to the public and this body.

The Clerk’s Office would assist such an independent investigation in any way requested.

Pre-session tweets

• RT @yksin: I’ll be livetweeting today’s Anchorage Assembly work session at Loussac Library @bentalaska. So… #ff I guess. // & here I am #
• Muni library’s wifi is puny today, Citizen Access not on at all. #
• Loussac Lib says its wifi having probs today. So tweeting from Assembly work session today counts on GCI’s 3G network. #
• Anchorage Assembly is assembling. I’d say about 40 people here observing so far, more trickling in. Dan Sullivan here too. #fb #

Work session called to order; agenda explained

• Assembly work session called to order. Ossiander explaining how they work. Explaining who responsible for elections: Assembly. #
• Agenda explained. Elvi Gray-Jackson says there is a petition of 400 just wants to present it. Ossiander testy. #

Here was the agenda:

Election Commission

Gwen Matthew, chair of the Election Commission, was first to be questioned by Assembly members.

• Chair of Election Commission describing process so far. Questioned ballots (qb) not yet opened #
• All qb & absentee ballots verified to ensure voters qualified before envelopes opened. None opened yet. #
• Preliminary #s over 500 qb’s rejected so far. #
• RT @kswannKTVA: Election Comm. says public misinformed abt process…if registered somewhere else in AK and move to Anc, must reregister #
• RT @kswannKTVA: Ballot shortages “made us tremendously more careful about our processes.”-election comm. #
• RT @adn_kylehopkins: Petition circulating today at election work session Calls for external audit of election. 400 sigs so far #
• ADN & KTVA also have people tweeting here see my live tweets. Bloggers from @Mudflats here too. #
• Election Commission singing praises of Diebolt AccuVote machines. Numerous probs w those machines reported nationwide. #
• Election Commission chair praise abt “smart machines” in itself makes this election really questionable, IMO. #election #fb #
• Questions abt various kinds of ballots being used. #
• RT @kswannKTVA: Bill Starr turns discussion to AccuVote machines..election comm. says it’s “impossible for them to go haywire.” #

Municipal Clerk’s office

The Assembly heard from Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein and Deputy Clerk Jacqueline Duke.

• Now to hear from Municipal Clerk’s office. #
• Barbara Gruenstein muni clerk sent Assembly letter also calling for independent investigation of #election #
• Deputy muni clerk Jacqueline Duke also here. #
• 143,000 ballots were printed of diff kinds, 72,350 distributed to precincts. #
• 63,000 left over at end of day… We’re confused by #s #
• Assembly were supplied w notebooks w spreadsheets & other info from muni clerk & attorney. I’d love to see one. #election #fb #
• Drummond says there were 1000s of ballots stored at Loussac Lib in unlocked room throughout election. #
• Trying to account for those undistributed ballots from Loussac library. I can’t sort it all in my head yet. #
• RT @kswannKTVA: Crowd in Assembly chambers.Traini: they may reconsider special counsel request next mtg. http://t.co/K7jEuHax  #
• Deputy clerk conducted all training sessions of abt 2.5 hrs apiece. Not all people required to attend training did. #election #fb #
• Some who didn’t attend were previous election workers, given election handbook & allowed to work. #election #fb #
• Ossiander asks abt troubleshooter failures during #election Previous workers but no extra training. #
• ESS Labor Services did hiring & payroll, nothing more, acc to deputy clerk. #
• I was told by 3 diff people abt election workers the knew told at training that precincts wd get fewer ballots than usual. #
• Assembly now asking bc they have heard from many election workers abt fewer ballots than usual. #
• Elections Manual section on troubleshooting (I’m looking at one now) says NOTHING abt running out of ballots. #
• Manual tells troubleshooters what to do abt tsunami warnings, but NOTHING abt ballot shortages!!! #
• Muni clerks office had 12 runners in place. #
• Ossiander says Assembly heard fr many election workers who couldn’t get troubleshooter help or new ballots from runners… #
• … & workers reporting not getting through to city hall. #
• Ref to Jim Minnery’s “register & vote same day anywhere you want” misinformation. #
• 139 voter registrations on election day. But if you are unregistered & vote questioned ballot, state will auto register you. #
• I think Duke just said precincts ran out of voter registration materials. #
• Unable to assess complete impact of Minnery misinformation yet. #
• Bill Starr asking abt why a troubleshooter took 25 of 50 remaining ballots from 1 precinct to take to another. #
• There are some questions that cannot be thoroughly answered yet. #
• Harriet Drummond has screenshots from Mayor’s web page telling voters to stay in place. Muni clerk didn’t know abt this. #
• Muni Clerks office knows of no people being turned away from polls or of precincts being closed early. #
• (but THERE have been numerous reports about people being turned away even by people claiming to be poo workers in parking lots) #
• Muni attorney Dennis Wheeler now on the hot seat. Talking abt info in notebooks given to Assembly members. #
• OOPs! (but THERE have been numerous reports about people being turned away by people claiming to be POLL workers in parking lots) #
• RT @907natalie: @bentalaska tee hee “poo workers.” // thx for catching that! As usual when tweeting, I’m all thumbs! #
• RT @907natalie: @bentalaska live tweeting is rough! // esp. when body catches up to all coffee I drank but dont want to miss anything! #
• Lack of wifi is creating tweeting difficulties. #
• Finally! Citizen_Access wifi finally came online. #
• Troubleshooting section of Muni election handbook accounts for tsunami warnings, but not ballot shortages. # http://t.co/cmrBXSrI #

• Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities. http://t.co/ZRNdH6bx #
• Assembly work session ending shortly. People who were kept from voting need to contact muni clerks office pronto. #
• Assembly member Ernie Hall: we may have final count by end of next week. #
• Ernie Hall: in a better position to evaluate question of 3rd party (independent special) counsel . #
• Assembly work session adjourned. #

Post-session tweets

• Wheeler claimed only 17 people contacted muni clerk saying they couldnt vote. Much disbelief from observers. #election#
• RT @kska: Assembly Digs Into Election Mess, Weighs Investigation http://t.co/gPJ2oUzM — Ossiander “leaning toward” independent review #

Friday evening wrap-up

My later wrap-up of the day posted on Bent’s Facebook wall:

Since the Assembly work session, I’ve had three long conversations with friends/contacts about what we learned today & then some. I have hit the wall (of my exhaustion) about three or four times today. I had intended to write an update post tonight, but I don’t have the whatsit to do it….

Meantime, I have at least been reading the news accounts. Looks like there is more likely to be Assembly support for an independent investigation. The question is: how far will it go. My biggest concern at this point is the song of praise that the Election Commission chair sang for the highly suspect Diebold AccuVote (misnomer) voting machines. Some of us were wondering how much she was getting paid to make that little commercial. But of course that’s just one concern in this highly irregular election. As I said earlier, I’m 95% convinced it was an election hampered not just by screwups, but also by corruption both external (Minnery/Prevo/et al.) and internal (why were fewer ballots distributed than should have been? why did troubleshooters & runners not replenish the precincts? … among other questions).

Meantime: documents are here, including the ESS contract. http://www.muni.org/departments/assembly/clerk/elections/pages/default.aspx

I’ll be back with you Sunday.

Were you prevented from voting?

The Clerk’s Office reminds people who attempted to vote, but were unable to because of a shortage of ballots, that they may contact the Clerk’s Office. Please email the Clerk’s Office at election2012@muni.org. When doing so, please include your full name and the number, name or location of the precinct(s) involved. If you are willing to be contacted by phone, please also include your phone number. The Clerk’s Office will collect and catalogue the information so that the Municipality can take this information into consideration, but will not be able to personally respond do to the present heavy workload.

Documents of the day

Barbara Gruenstein letter

• 13 Apr 2012. Letter from Barbara E. Gruenstein, Municipal Clerk, Municipality of Anchorage, to members of the Anchorage Assembly. (Calls for independent investigation of April 3 election.)

Other documents

From the Municipal Clerk’s Anchorage Municipal Elections page. I gather that these were some of the items included in the notebooks provided to Anchorage Assembly members for their work session, but I don’t know if this is the complete package. I also haven’t had time to look through these. Perhaps tomorrow.

• Unofficial Election Results
• Official Ballot Receiving List
• Unvoted Ballot Inventory
• Ballot Order Invoices
• Ballot Accountability Report
• Dansereau v. Ulmer
• Finkelstein v. Stout
• Hammond v. Hickel
• 1989 Municipal Attorney Opinion. Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler has cited this opinion as a precedent for how to handle the ballot shortage of the April 3 election.
• AO 89-136
• AO 97-18
• ESS Labor Services Contract. The Municipality of Anchorage contracted with ESS Labor Services to recruit, hire, and run payroll for temporary election workers.

News coverage

I will update this page later with links to news and blog coverage of the work session; that info will also later go on our April 2012 Anchorage election reference page.