Read about the ridiculous fees the State of Alaska (under former half-Gov. Sarah Palin and now) requires citizens to pay for public information!
REGISTERING ON THIS BLOG WILL ALWAYS BE FREE. Soapblox charges Blue Oasis a monthly fee for the blog platform as well as the yearly charge for the website domain. There are also occasional fees for records gathering activities (CDs of meeting minutes and copying fees for letters and other documents from APOC). If you can support the blog and all of our work towards justice for ALL Alaskans and to hold ex-Governor Palin accountable, please visit the drop- down list above. Any contribution is much-appreciated!
Thank you!
Though many of us suffer from Palin Factor Fatigue, it is irrefutable that there is a nagging curiosity to have the question answered, ?How in the world did Sarah Palin become so popular and why do we still need to hear about her?? My book answers these questions in detail and urges us all to be vigilant. She is one of a small pool of ?rising stars in the republican party? as John McCain stated as recently as January 25, 2009 on Fox News Sunday.
As unbelievable as her meteoric rise was we cannot delude ourselves, turning our backs once again, into thinking that she and those like her are going away. This woman is joined by millions of loyalists whose perception is that she was persecuted in the media, stifled by McCain, and mocked by liberals - and now the theocratic conservatives are regrouping with a vengeance!
"Blue Oasis" began in 2005 in its Blogger format (now an archive) and became possibly the first Alaska Blog on Progressive Politics. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis was honored to represent Alaska as the state blog.
Transition--Community Blog
In September 2008, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis moved to a Soapblox Community Blog format. Readers can become full participants by registering on the blog to comment and write "diaries." Diary titles appear on the right sidebar for folks to read and provide comments. Blog editors may choose to move some of these diaries to the front page.
While this Community was formed specifically with Alaska in mind, all "friends of Alaska" are welcome as members!
**Note about registering** Scroll down the right side until you find the link to register. Then, just follow the instructions!
**Note about comments** To comment on a story, click on the heading and then look for the "comment bar" at the bottom (it's light grey, I can't seem to change it). I believe the font color NOW permits you to see the "post comment" text.
YOUR BLOGMISTRESS
My name is Linda Kellen Biegel and I am a former 15-year Federal employee. Thirteen of those years were spent working for the US Army Corps of Engineers. I am also semi-retired from the Alaska music scene (singer, sound tech, stage manager, logistics).
When the blog was chosen to represent Alaska in the DNCC State Blogger Pool at the Denver Convention, I attended with the help of Alaska Real blogmistress, Writing Raven and my daughter Morrigan. On August 29th, one day after Barack Obama's inspiring speech at Invesco Field , my life took another turn as it did for all Alaska bloggers when Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen to be John McCain's VP running mate. Since then, I've either assisted or have been interviewed by media from the UK, Italy, Australia and Germany as well as national media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, NY Times, ABC Good Morning America's Kate Snow, National Journal, Dallas Morning News, LA Times, and NPR.
Presently, I work as a freelance writer, PR, event coordinator, community organizer, wife to computer programmer Josh and mother to 11-year-old Morrigan. Our family especially enjoys our summers in Alaska where we get to subsistence set-net fish Sockeye salmon as well as halibut fish/whalewatch in the family's homemade aluminum boat, "The Neverdone" (when it's working). We reside in Anchorage, Alaska.
Origin of "Celtic Diva"
I've used "Celtic Diva" as a screen name since the early 1990's on Web TV.
"Folks have asked about my Celtic heritage, especially in light of my name. What they don't realize is that I'm adopted. I was born Valerie Morehead of the Clan Muirhead. I was adopted at three-months-old by the Kellens. I always "knew" I was Celt even before really knew. I was drawn to all things Scottish, especially music. That's why my parents eventually told me at age 16."
"Linda is well-known in Alaska & beyond as the prominent progressive political blogger Celtic Diva of Celtic Diva?s Blue Oasis. But back in the day, the early 1990s, I knew her as Linda Kellen, a member of the local folk/rock band Sky is Blu, which amongst other things performed in at least a couple or so of the annual women?s show Celebration of Change, in which I also performed. And if you don?t already know, let me tell you: Linda is one fine damn singer."
I went on after the break-up of "Sky is Blu" to perform with various Alaska musicians and work with national folks like Bo Diddly, Coco Montoya, Debbie Davies, Taj Mahal, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bad Company, Creedence Clearwater, Carny Wilson, etc...
(Please register to participate in diaries and comments! We'd love for you to join our Community!)
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In my house, you can almost always tell what I'm working on by which computer I'm using. If I'm in our loveseat/recliner in the living room with my feet up, a blanket over my legs (the living room is chillier when it hovers around zero) the fireplace going and a cup of coffee/tea, that usually means I'm settled in and working on posts for the blog. If I'm at my PC in the office with freezing feet (I always forget to put on slippers) and no coffee or tea (I get too hyper-focused to remember to eat or drink 'til I'm keeling over), that usually means I'm doing research, making phone calls, sending out email queries, etc...
Yesterday was an "office day."
Unfortunately, when I have an "office day," that also usually means I'm doing some things that I'm not quite ready to share publicly...you know, fact-checking...that stuff Palin calls "opposition research!" Yesterday was no exception, but I'll give you an idea what the subject might be.
Much has been made here in Alaska about a report put out by Mayor Dan Sullivan's appointee, Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler. It seems that Mr. Wheeler tries to claim that then-Mayor-now-Senator Mark Begich maybe, quite possibly, allegedly didn't give the Anchorage Assembly all of the information that he could have regarding the past budget. However, Mr. Wheeler also lets us know that his interpretation "is not unassailable" (p 59). Per the ADN:
In an interview and in his report, Wheeler concedes that other "reasonable minds" might disagree about whether Begich's financial reporting to Assembly members violated a provision in the charter that says: "If the mayor determines that revenues will be less than appropriations for a fiscal year, the mayor shall so report to the Assembly."
In other words, he's conceding that less-biased minds than his (will cover that a future post) could easily look at this and see no wrongdoing...hmmmmm.
Then there's this line in the ADN which seems incongruous with the rest of the article:
In any case, the labor contracts in question are valid, he said.
Wait...isn't this report on Mark Begich and the budget? What's this "union stuff" doing in here?
The Assembly in late September asked Wheeler to review the process used last year to approve the labor contracts, as well as a private attorney's opinion that was critical of the process.
AHA!!!! In other words, the Assembly NEVER ASKED HIM to review the budget information. When Wheeler determined that Senator Begich had done no wrong in the union contracts (as the right and talk radio previously was harping about) he decided to go beyond the "issues presented" (p 4).
What it really comes down to: The Assembly already had all the financial information that the Mayor had. The Conservative's beef: the then-mayor asked for a spreadsheet from then City Finance Officer Sharon Weddleton, where she combined the information everyone already had and inserted some "risk factors" the city might face. As she said, "Most of that information has been disclosed in the footnotes of the financial statements for years." (As it stands, most of these "risk factors" never came to pass.)
I guess the Assembly doesn't read their footnotes. Then, they fired Ms. Weddleton as soon as Mayor Begich left to become Senator and before the Budget was completed. Ooops...
Mudflats explains all of this in an EXTREMELY entertaining way and alludes to some of the information that...well...quite frankly required more research before it could be discussed at any depth.
Thus...yesterday was an "office day."
Here is Senator Begich's statement on the entire issue. If you click on the very first ADN article, you can find the report and Senator Begich's response to Wheeler's questions.
November 18, 2009
Statement from Sen. Mark Begich on release of Wheeler report:
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"It comes as no surprise that the report issued by Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler is critical of me and my administration. We should not pretend that this review of the facts was objective, fair or complete. The Sullivan Administration, in concert with a handful of Assembly members, is determined to tarnish the record of my administration and this is just the latest step in that effort.
"I cooperated with the Municipal Attorney, provided documents showing information the Assembly had about the state of city finances in 2008 and throughout my tenure as mayor, and supplied facts and information to put those documents in context. I sent Mr. Wheeler several letters inviting him to submit any additional questions he had, but it wasn't until Nov. 12 - after receiving my fourth such letter and three days before he released his report - that any questions were submitted. I promptly answered those questions (see attachment).
"As I have said since day one, the Anchorage Assembly was fully apprised of all financial information related to the Municipality throughout my terms as mayor. The suggestion that the Assembly was not fully informed about the Municipality's financial condition is absurd and totally at odds with the record. We held multiple work sessions, issued reports and memos, and fully answered all questions. I could not, however, hold their collective hand to make sure they retained and analyzed the information provided. I think what we've seen is the result of an Assembly that eliminated its own budget analyst office and then was unable to keep up with the job they were elected to do. It's regrettable that some have tried to gain political advantage calling into question labor contracts that were vigorously negotiated and contained terms that were fair, both to the Municipality and to the police officers and fire fighters who put their lives on the line for us every day.
"When I was elected mayor in 2003 and inherited a $33 million budget gap, I didn't complain about the previous administration. We got to work, closed the gap and pulled the city together. I would urge the Sullivan Administration and the Anchorage Assembly to stop trying to divide the community, deal with the budget challenges they face, and put the citizens of Anchorage above political games.
It has been awhile since I gave you an update on where we stand with your email/records request.
HERE was the last update. I was put in a position that I could either agree to an extension or risk losing if I treated all of this as non-responsive and appealed to the Governor. The other option, the court option, isn't really feasible at this time.
So, I said I'd agree to the third option...to have the Governor belatedly ask the Attorney General to grant an extension.
This is the email I sent:
According to your October 9th extension request, you have stated that I have three options:
1) I could agree to an extension request.
You did not state how long that extension would be. I cannot agree to it if I do not know the length of time of that extension. Also, there have been a few weeks between your letter and my response. I would assume that should considerably reduce the length of the extension if not make it unnecessary. For me to agree to #1, the length of the extension must be identified and it must be of reasonable length for the small number of emails I have requested. Besides, as a result of my research and experience with this process, I believe you have already had plenty of time.
2) I could treat this as a denial of my request and appeal to Governor Parnell or Superior Court.
My understanding is that: a) your letter alleges that the services for which the $5,552.62 was covering have already been rendered (i.e. the email search and filtering-see attached June 5th modified request and June 17th additional questions). b) We are now waiting for the lawyers at DoL to go through and see if anything needs to be redacted-services for which Alaska Statute specifically states I cannot be charged.
I am not financially able to either pay the money again for the same search (if Governor Parnell denies the appeal) or afford an appeal to the Superior Court. Therefore, I would not choose this option. (As an aside, since you now know how many emails are being analyzed as the result of the search specific to my records request, I would like to know the number. You should now be able to answer that question as the search process is completed.)
3) The Governor could belatedly request an extension from Attorney General Sullivan.
I think this would be my first choice, as long as my request is in no way penalized for it. In other words, no matter what happens, this process moves forward.
My ultimate goal, after all, is to obtain these emails.
So, in conclusion, I would request number three as long as the above conditions apply.
I believe that the $5,552.62 we paid was for inefficiency and poor management. It was outrageous to pay those inflated rates even one time as this is information guaranteed by Alaska Statute and Federal Law to be accessible to the public, much less pay for them again. If any action you are about to take could lead to that as a possibility, I expect that you will contact me and await a response before acting.
Thank you for your attention
Linda Kellen Biegel
As soon as I know that they will be asking the Governor to make that request of the AG, I will let all of you know.
AKGovSarahPalin: See infrastructure @ work today: free Port of Anch tour (transport stop for nearly 85% of all AK goods); show your kids how we import/export
This was spotted early this morning by the intrepid writer/reporter David Corn:
DavidCornDC: Palin twt: See infrastructure @ work: free Port of Anch tour/show ur kids how we imp/export. Me: Port sought stimulus $
http://bit.ly/157Vtr
...and then later, an explanation to several who must have asked about it:
DavidCornDC: RT @stuart_oneill @kimbrlykrautter Ysday GovBeautyQueen sd stimulus didn't work. 2day bragging on new harbor. Hypocrit101 via @davidcorndc
For those who don't speak "Twitter", Governor Palin was encouraging people in her "tweet" to visit the Port today for a free tour. The excellent point that Mr. Corn was making has to do with the fact that the Port of Anchorage was one of the important and contentious recipients of the first stimulus funds...causing tension between Palin and Alaska's Congressional Team.
"Since when can you get out of huge national debt by creating trillions of dollars of new debt?" Palin asked. "It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained."
"We need to be aware of the creation of a fearful population, and fearful lawmakers, being led to believe that big government is the answer, to bail out the private sector, because then government gets to get in there and control it," she said. "And mark my words, this is going to be next, I fear, bail out next debt-ridden states. Then government gets to get in there and control the people."
Of course, Palin "forgot" that Michael Reagan's father, President Ron, did the same thing back in the 1980s.
And now Palin, in essence, is taking credit for the "stimulated" Anchorage Port.
Remember when Ted Stevens was against the 21st Century GI Bill then slapped a small amendment on it so he could vote on it and take credit in the end? Remember how he suffered exactly "zero" consequences for that from a media that doesn't have time for the fine print?
Yeah, so does Sarah Palin. She's learned from the masters.
Happy Easter, pardners!!!! Here we have a short version of the more humorous side of the Wild West Show known as the end-of-the-legislative-session.
My favorite humorous thing this week actually came from some friends on the Juneau inside. I got to beat the not-so-divine-orafice to the punch with a little story about "Bathroom Humor".
The difference...while I didn't name names, I did show their pictures!
I LOVE this guy! His comparison of the Juneau Senator saga to the game of risk was incredibly entertaining...my favorite part:
So the Gov, using the power that's afforded to her, - Alaska gives more power to it's governor than any other state - has taken all her red reinforcements and placed them on the border of Juneau. She submits her own name for a replacement, Tim Grussendorf, who was a Republican just days before Palin submitted his name for the Senate seat.
The Senate Democrats rechecked their list of picks for the vacancy. Beth Kertulla was the only name. The Democrats spent the better part of a day rearranging the letters in 'Beth Kertulla' trying to see if somehow they could get 'Tim Grussendorf' to come out of it. They couldn't. The closest they came was, "The Brutal Elk". They began to realize that the governor was playing by her own set of rules and attacking with four dice and only allowing the Democrats to defend with one.
Scratching their heads at this peculiar strategy employed by the Governor, they move three more blue reinforcements next to the lone Beth Kertulla. Four well-qualified individuals; surely the governor's rubber-stamp should fall on one and she can give up Juneau and go back to trying to conquer the rest of the World.
But this curious tale doesn't end there. Palin takes that list, folds it into an airplane, and then laughs manically while making jokes about killing wolves. Then she submits another name, Joe Nelson, an administrator at the University of Alaska Southeast, for the seat. The Democrats didn't even bother rechecking their list this time... You know, that whole "Fool me once, shame ... shame on ... you.... Fool me - can't get fooled again!" thing.
Andrew Halcro tried to make sense of the insanity at the Governor's "press availability":
So she's opposed to accepting the federal stimulus funds because it will increase the national debt, but she's not opposed to taking federal stimulus funds if the funds can be used to replace state funds.
That seems like an odd position for someone who is supposedly worried about the national debt; "I'll only take the Federal money if they incur the cost and my state doesn't have to."
Emerson was right; foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Kodiak Konfidential "live blogs" Good Friday...a day that's traditionally not very good luck for Alaskans (and it wasn't such a hot day for Jesus either).
And finally, Mudflats tries to explain how Governor Palin really didn't ask Mark Begich to resign even when she did:
Soooo....she wants a new election to take place for the senate seat. And she wants Begich to step aside so that can happen. Buuuut....she doesn't want him to resign. And the Daily News Miner just kind of made that up.
(thud)
That was my forehead coming into sudden and violent contact with my desk.
So there we go...a little humor to boost your resolve as we go into the last week of the 2009 session.
Stay tuned for the H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S joke about the Governor leaving three days early!!!!
Looking around the blogosphere, it seems I missed as many people as I saw at Senator-elect-Mayor Mark's thank-you party last night at Snow City Cafe. However, I snapped a bunch of pictures of the folks I actually DID see!
John Vezina, Begich Campaign's Finance Director
He was a lot of fun to hang around with at Division of Elections while the vote was being counted.
He gave me a free drink ticket too!
The Snow City Cafe was packed solid for the party.
ANCHORAGE, AK - Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) today released the following statement regarding his campaign and the most recent vote tallies in Alaska:
"Given the number of ballots that remain to be counted, it is apparent the election has been decided and Mayor Begich has been elected.
"My family and I wish to thank the thousands of Alaskans who stood by us and who supported my re-election. It was a tough fight that would not have been possible without the help of so many Alaskans - people who I am honored to call my friends. I will always remember their thoughts, prayers, and encouragement.
"I am proud of the campaign we ran and regret that the outcome was not what we had hoped for. I am deeply grateful to Alaskans for allowing me to serve them for 40 years in the U.S. Senate. It has been the greatest honor of my life to work with Alaskans of all political persuasions to make this state that we all love a better place.
"I wish Mayor Begich and his family well. My staff and I stand willing to help him prepare for his new position."
This means that we won't have a statewide recount but there will still be one in Fairbanks District 7 as Mike Kelley only leads Karl Kassel by 1 vote.
****UPDATE****Mayor Senator-elect Mark Begich released this statement:
I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the United States Senate," Begich said. "It's been an incredible journey getting to this point, and I appreciate the support and commitment of the thousands of Alaskans who have brought us to this day. I can't wait to get to work fighting for Alaskan families.
****UPDATE 2****What happens next?
From Bethany Lesser at the Begich Campaign:
At this point, the majority of the total ballots have been counted. Mark Begich is up by 3,724 (Begich - 150,728, Stevens - 147,004), according to the Division of Elections. Approximately 2,500 overseas ballots remain outstanding, but Stevens would need more votes than that to change the outcome of the Alaska Senate Race.
As part of the standard process for the Division of Election's certification process, the State Review Board is also meeting today to conduct a hand count of 40 randomly selected precincts to confirm totals from the machine counts. These precincts represent at least 5 percent of each district's voters from the general election on Election Day. They will also hand count absentee and question ballots from 2 districts each for verification as well.
Target certification will be the week of December 1, as soon as the State Review Board has completed their review the director certifies the election.
With the margin of 3,724 votes, the likelihood of a recount has been reduced, since it would have to be paid for by the Stevens campaign. The only time there is an automatic recount is when there is a tie. If the final vote is within 0.5 percent, a recount can be requested, and the state will cover the bill. If the final vote is more than 0.5 percent (+/- 1,600), a campaign can request a recount, but would have to pay for it. A recount may be applied for within 5 days of certification, by either the defeated candidate or 10 members of the defeated candidate's party. If a recount application is filed immediately, the Division of Elections must commence within five days of receipt of an application. A recount is done by machine in Juneau for the entire state, and would take approximately 3 - 5 days.
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John Vezina and Meg Simonian with the Begich Campaign, alongside Randy Reudrich with the Republican Party waiting for the questioned ballot count
I left the Division of Elections over an hour ago and there were just small pockets of ballots to count. It looks like they finished as they posted the totals on the website!
Here is the just-recieved email from Campaign Manager, Leslie Riddle:
Dear Friends,
What a long, strange trip it's been.
It is almost over--there aren't enough votes out there to change the outcome. Whew. We are up 3724 votes. The only thing left are straggler absentees from overseas.
THANK YOU ALL for your help, support, money, time, love, angst, legal advice, and whatever else you gave!
What's next? Planning for Senator-Elect Begich starts right away. Keep checking our website for updates. www.begich.com.
Do we still need money? Yes. We've had to send staff to watch the counts in Anchorage, Nome, Juneau, Fairbanks, and the Mat-Su. We're still employing our team of lawyers to protect us in case the R's decide to ask for a recount (yes, they can ask for it--they'd have to pay if the vote count difference is greater than .5%). You get it...we're not completely done here. www.begich.com.
Thanks everyone!
Traa laaa laa laa laa
Leslie
CONGRATULATIONS MR. MAYOR SENATOR-ELECT!
(Hint: If you want to congratulate him in person, you'll have to do it at the Anchorage Assembly Meeting, starting at 5:00 PM this evening. Tonight is budget night so it's a good session to attend.)
Further discussion of vote counting below the fold...
That was the last update of the day and I'm guessing the numbers went down a little bit because Fairbanks and Mat Su Valley finished their counting.
Exciting news in Fairbanks...Republican Representative Mike Kelley (District 7) is only ahead of Democrat Karl Kassel by one vote! So, there will probably be at least one recount!
Remember, overseas absentee ballots can arrive up through Nov. 19th!
Per my phone calls to the Division of Elections:
Region 1: Juneau is done for the day but will be doing their final count (we hope) on Tuesday Nov. 18th.
Region 2: Mat Su Valley--DONE
Anchorage will be finishing their count on Tuesday Nov. 18th as well.
Region 3: Prince William Sound--DONE
Region 4: Aleutians, Western AK, North Slope--DONE
About 25,000 votes left to count between Anchorage and Juneau!
I need more cayenne for my nails!
************UPDATED NUMBERS*****************
BEGICH NOW AHEAD BY 1061 VOTES!!!!!
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I know there is a count going on today in Regions 1, 3 and 4. However it looks like they may be waiting to update until: folks are done with the count or all regions are in or all of us bite our fingernails AND toenails down to the quick!
Until then, here's something to keep your brain busy...and the good news is at the bottom!
I love Rachel Maddow...I really do. However, in the case of the Alaska election she was definitely getting her information from folks who were not directly hands-on with the process. The Begich Campaign has had boots-on-the-ground since long before Election Day. They have had people all over the state the entire time. No one was more frustrated by the early conspiracy-theory panic than they were...because the folks who were spreading it weren't talking to them. It also seemed like there were folks out there with a lack-of-understanding of Alaska's unique challenges, transportation and otherwise, who turned this into something it was not. At the very least, they sounded the alarm bell rather prematurely.
There never were hidden ballots, no "lost ballots" or "found ballots." There never was a "mystery" as to where the ballots were. It was taking a long time because:
a) 1/3 of ALL ballots are either early vote, absentee or questioned...that is an unheard of number in Alaska until this year. That fact is NOT A DANGER SIGNAL EITHER! The Begich Campaign was in every village, every city pushing early and absentee voting right along with the Obama Campaign! Guess what? It worked!
b) This year, there is a new procedure where EVERY BALLOT had to be double checked to make sure no one accidentally voted twice...absentee and on Election Day. Why was that procedure established? Because 26 people during the primary voted twice and they wanted to close that loophole. Who is the one that motivated this new procedure? The Democratic Party!
c) Due to the Bush Administration's war on unions and desperate desire to privatize mail delivery under one of his corporate buddies, the amazingly efficient US Postal Service has had their budget repeatedly whacked as of late. As a result...and because of the outrageous cost of aircraft fuel in Alaska...they have had to cut back on mail deliveries to Rural Alaska. Since that's how most of their ballots travel, we've had to wait.
There were some people especially worried about the Diebold machines and the GEMS tabulator...with legitimate concerns from past Alaska elections and problems in the lower-48. However, I was absolutely stunned that (to my knowledge) NONE of these people who were worried showed up at the absentee ballot counting at Division of Elections so they could actually look at the the tapes first-hand from each district count as they were coming out of the machines. The procedure was as wide-open as they could allow without danger of exposing privacy information. Media was allowed to film everything except (understandably) the individual ballots close-up. The openness of the Department of Elections was very different from two years ago under pageant queen Whitney Brewster and then Lt. Governor Loren "The Undertaker" Leman.
The ironic and entertaining part was that Republicans were the ones baffled by the results. As we'd look at each tape, we'd see McCain/Palin win easily in the Republican-leaning districts, yet in the majority of them, Stevens would lose to Begich. Why they were suprised that folks would vote cross-party to avoid electing a felon is amazing. What it did for me was renew my faith in Alaskans.
Mayor (and hopefully soon-to-be Senator) Begich's appearance on Rachel Maddow was well timed, as we still have another nail-biting 5 days to go. While not discouraging vigilence, his reassurances have gone a long way to dispell some of the fears of shell-shocked politicos, a Palin/Stevens-weary public and my favorite Rhodes scholar television journalist.
I just got this in my email from Bethany Lesser, Democratic Party and special assistant to the Begich Campaign. It should answer all of the questions you've all been asking! :-D
------------------------------------------------
We are cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the Election. More than 59,000 ballots were counted yesterday, and Mark Begich is now up by 814 votes. Included in yesterday's ballots were conservative areas like the Mat-Su Valley (home of Governor Palin), South Anchorage (including the hillside and Girdwood - home of Senator Stevens), and the Kenai Peninsula . Of the districts not counted on Wednesday, Begich won all of them on Election Day (for full disclosure, these are regions that have smaller populations).
There are several things worth noting about the outstanding ballots. Generally, question (provisional) ballots lean slightly Democratic, and it appears the majority of question ballots will be included. For the most part, the absentee ballots that have not been counted were cast after Senator Stevens' felony conviction. While Republicans often assert the military votes usually go Republican, that is not necessarily the case in Alaska . Not only did Begich carry the military base during his run for Anchorage Mayor, but on Election Day, Begich won Elmendorf Air Force Base, Fort Richardson , and Fort Wainwright . The majority of voters in Alaska are independents, unaffiliated or nonpartisan. While Republicans often say that these voters will lean Republican, we have to remember, this isn't just any Election where independent voters are following past trends. It's not every election that the incumbent U.S. Senator was recently convicted in federal court. While we expect the margin could narrow as additional votes are counted, we are optimistic that Begich will end up on top.
Answers to your questions:
What's left to be counted?
Around 12 percent of the ballots remain outstanding. There are 25,789 early votes and absentee ballots remaining plus 14,932 question ballots, for a total of 40,721 uncounted ballots. This number could still increase slightly because ballots mailed on Election Day are accepted through Friday domestically and Wednesday, November 19 overseas.
What is the timing for the rest of the ballot counting?
The Wasilla regional office will count all remaining absentee at 1pm and questioned ballots at 8am on Friday.
The Nome regional office will count all remaining absentee and questioned ballots on Friday at 8am.
The Juneau regional office will count the remaining 2 districts of questioned ballots on Friday at 1pm. Complete the absentee count on Tuesday at 9am.
The Fairbanks regional office will count questioned ballots on Friday and possibly some absentee at 11am. If absentee are not counted or completed, another count will be scheduled for Monday or Tuesday.
The Anchorage regional office will count the remaining absentee and questioned ballots next Tuesday at 10am.
Looking through the window as DoE employees count Anchorage absentee ballots
Watching paint dry...that's what it's like looking on through a window as people count early and absentee ballots. However, it's probably the most important example there is of our Alaska Democracy in action!
Each Dept. of Election worker doing the counting goes through one state house district at a time, grabbing stacks of ballots in huge, white envelopes (frequently, there are more than one...district 28 had four). The counter completes the district than turns the tape that's running on their machine into the supervisor sitting at a tall table. The results are checked and then two tapes are run of each district's and brought to the door...one for the Republican representative and one for the Democratic rep.
District 19 gave Begich 185! / More questioned ballots arriving / Made her smile! / Winning candidate Chris Tuck!
The drama happens outside of the counting room among candidates and/or their representatives who have their noses pressed up against the glass like a kid at Christmas. As the tapes are brought out, they grab it excitedly and then, with cell phone in hand, run into the other room to call their respective offices with the news. Sometimes, new campaign workers come to relieve the others or keep them company, as Begich people kept coming in and out while John Vezina (Begich's Finance Director) stayed there like a permanent fixture). At other times, like when District 19 Republican candidate Bob Roses saw that the absentee count had him down a further seven votes (the early vote knocked him farther down as well) it's just time to leave and he and his campaign manager walked out.
I showed up in the afternoon when they were already finished counting the 9,500 early votes and the Begich folks were bursting with optimism. They had gone from a 3,500 to a 700 vote deficit behind Ted Stevens. Considering there were still another 80,000 votes to go, we all couldn't help but feel good about what was happening. Even David Shurtleff from the Berkowitz Campaign was positive, even though Ethan wasn't gaining enough votes to provide a lot of hope for a complete turnaround.
Per an email from Democratic Party Rep. Bethany Lesser:
Here's the latest from the Alaska Senate Race:
According to the Division of Elections, there are now 81,000 ballots outstanding that need to be counted. This accounts for more that a quarter of the total votes.
Also today, the Division of Elections said they'd count about 2/3 of the ballots (absentee and early) next Wednesday. Question ballots aren't likely to be counted until the end of next week or even the beginning of the following week. Based on data from the Division of Elections, Begich is leading Senator Ted Stevens in the early votes which have been counted - 59% to 37%.
This is VERY good news! 9,500 of the votes that still need to be counted are the early votes that happened BEFORE Thursday and a number of the 50,000+ absentee votes were early votes that happened AFTER Thursday.
However, there will be enough question ballots left after Wednesday's count for the race to still go either way.
Also, no one knows how the rest of the absentee votes will go.
Attached is a map from the Anchorage Daily News which details just how well Begich performed in the majority of Alaska , and why we are still so optimistic about the Senate race up here.
**UPDATE** My favorite election site, FiveThirtyEight.com, made a great post projecting Begich's take of the uncounted votes. Here's an excellent (and emotionally uplifting" chart!!!!!
Then, FiveThirtyEight discusses what votes are left to count...
Shannyn Moore did a story suggesting that there may have been some type of vote suppression occurring in this election. These were some of the responses to her article:
By: Melissa Fouse on November 6, 2008
at 2:04 pm
Shannyn - I was a poll watcher for this election, a volunteer (for the Ds) and spent 15 hours Tuesday watching for any election fraud or anomaly in House District 26 (Anchorage, west side). Turnout was low - of the 1200 registered voters in that precinct, about 550 voted. Another 66 voted questioned ballots. Every ballot was properly handled; the touch-screen machine was not even used. In the middle of the afternoon, when the results of the Presidential election were announced (I suspect, we were in a news blackout in the polling place) the trickle of voters slowed even more. Of the over 300 identified D supporters on the list I had in front of me, not even 100 voted. I know there were some 200 volunteers doing what I was doing and most likely more from the Rs.
It stinks that so few people voted, but in my small precinct, it was all on the up and up.
By: mike on November 6, 2008
at 7:02 pm
Our polling place was DEAD QUIET when we voted at 6:30 pm. There were MUCH bigger crowds in the evening for at least the last 2 elections.
I hate to say it but I think once it was clear Obama won, many Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents just didn't bother to show up. My guess is a lot of people only really cared about the Obama race, and didn't care so much about our local elections.
By: Carrie on November 6, 2008
at 11:25 pm
I did exit polls on Tuesday. There was a huge line at my precinct prior to the polls opening at 7am. After about 7:30am it was DEAD the rest of the day. This is the third presidental election I have done exit polls for, and it was very clear to me that turnout was WAY down. In fact, the officials at my site were very perplexed.
Get over your conspiracy theorys and get a life. Would someone be crying foul if the Senate and House races had gone the the other way? Doubtful. For goodness sake, even the pollsters were suprprised at the low turnout. Ask the officials who were there - the voters didn't show!!!
People called into Cary Carrigan's show this morning recounting pretty much the same experience. While it sounds like polls in Homer were busy, poll watchers, poll workers and voters in Anchorage have recounted the same story; it was busy first thing in the morning and dead the rest of the day.
This completely jives with my husband's voting experience just after 6:00 PM in Anchorage District 24 -- there were two people voting when he walked in. When he was done, it was so empty he said you could practically hear the wind whistling in the rafters.
PLEASE recount your Alaska voting experiences either here on the blog or by emailing me at celticdivaak@yahoo.com.
Many people are shocked that convicted felon Ted Stevens could possibly be ahead of Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich in the fight for his US Senate seat, or that under-investigation Congressman Don Young has probably held on to his seat against Ethan Berkowitz. This seems especially dubious as polls that were correct in every other state were seemingly way off in Alaska. An article in the Anchorage Daily News titled "The Pollsters missed the mark" discusses this:
"The real question is where were the all the Democrats?" Dittman said, noting the voter turnout was supposed to be in record proportions. Instead, only an estimated 57 percent of registered voters had a say - a far drop from the 66 percent turnout in the 2004 presidential election, according to state elections division figures.
The issue of the incorrect polls has triggered some concern both here and in other parts of the country, especially on the "interwebs" where folks have raised the specter of a "rigged election." It's understandable that we're all having flashbacks to Alaska 2004, where the Division of Elections reported some precincts had over 100% turnout. (Voting "early and often" is not just a tongue-in-cheek saying in Chicago!)
However, we should all subscribe to the "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" mantra of "Don't Panic!" I can think of at least four reasons why:
1) Per the Division of Elections, there are three different types of ballots that still must be counted: 1/2 of the early voting ballots (9,500), the absentee ballots (48,000) and the "questioned" ballots (16,000). ("Questioned" ballots come from registered voters who go to a different precinct and are allowed to vote the Congressional and Presidential elections or un-registered voters who go to a precinct and are allowed to register and vote in the presidential election only. All of these votes are checked by hand to determine the voters status.)
That's 73,500 ballots which equal about 15% of all registered voters in the state of Alaska. That's a lot of votes yet to be counted.
2) While Ted Stevens is making the claim that absentee votes "always break conservative," we are operating in an entirely new world because of Barack Obama's campaign strategy. As the result of an Obama and Begich Campaign "Get Out the Vote" juggernaut, it's quite possible that those absentee, early voting and questioned ballots will break Progressive (I know mine is in there)...completely turning that "conventional wisdom" on its head. Also, the absentee ballots are often military-dominated, which has caused them to trend towards conservative in the past, polls and FEC records have shown this election cycle that both the oversees and US-stationed military have heavily favored the Democratic presidential candidates...specifically Barack Obama...over the McCain ticket when it comes to political donations. The "conservative assumption" no longer carries any weight.
Anyone remember a couple of weeks ago when Sarah Palin, in the face of the black-and-white text of the Troopergate Report stating she had abused her power and violated an Alaska Statute, declared she had been "vindicated?" Per the Anchorage Daily News editorial:
Palin asserted that the report found "there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired."
In fact, the report concluded that "impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."
Palin's response is the kind of political "big lie" that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is down.
Now it seems that, in spite of the fact that a jury of 12 good citizens found our Senator Stevens guilty of seven felonies, Ted says "I have not been convicted of anything."
What?
You know, I'd start swearing that they were seriously putting something in that Valley water to turn folks like Vic Kohring, Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens into complete "whack-jobs," but Ted isn't from the Valley and has spent the majority of the last 40 years in DC.
I guess it's too much power for too long that forms that sense of entitlement, or perhaps a hefty personality disorder (can you say narcissist?), or a combination of both.
MODERATOR MICHAEL CAREY: Though this will be a traditional debate most of the evening, there are some questions that only you can answer. After your conviction Monday on seven felony counts, you said that you would talk to Alaskans about your future and the future of Alaska.
Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin have asked you to step down in the meantime while you pursue your appeal.
If Gov. Palin and Sen. McCain were in this room, what would you say to them?
STEVENS: Well the first thing I would tell them is that the case is still pending on the basis of mentions which we filed for a new trial or for a dismissal of the case for prosecutorial misconduct.
I have not been convicted of anything.
I would tell them that I understand that they make statements during the heat of the campaign. And, and probably they've been a little misinformed by their staff. But I wouldn't hold it against them. I understand what they're doing. They're trying to get elected.
I would have to say John, and, and Sarah, I understand.
MODERATOR LARRY PERSILY: Sen. Stevens, you are asking Alaskans to reelect you while you fight to overturn the jury's verdict. Meanwhile, your own party's leader in the senate ... has called on you to resign. As effective as you've been for Alaska over your carreer, what can you do to ensure that effectiveness will continue if re-elected?
STEVENS: Well, I think you ought to just look at what's been done since this trial has been going on, as a matter of fact. We passed a series of bills that I had introduced and had to go back to the senate while this trial was going on. I'll think I'll be effective. Effectiveness is a matter of experience. As far as the leader's comments, he too is up for election.
They just wanted to get away from questions from the press about the situation. So they made the comment about well, maybe he should step down.
I'm not going to step down. I have not been convicted. I have a got a case pending against me, and probably the worst case of prosecutorial -- misconduct by the prosecutors -- that is known. I had a talk this afternoon, with one of the attorneys here, a former U.S. attorney, who told me he was appalled by what went on in that case.
So I think you'll find out. I will succeed and I will be found innocent.
We don't deserve this...we don't need these people and when they start believing that we do(and pay big commercial money to try and convince us that we do) it's time to send them into retirement.
Once the Stevens "guilty" verdict hit, polling outfits were working like mad to find out how Alaskans were going to react and to get the information out first.
Republican Senator Ted Stevens has fallen eight points behind Democrat Mark Begich in his bid for re-election, and most Alaska voters now believe Stevens should resign from office.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey of Alaska voters, conducted a day after Stevens was found guilty of filing false financial disclosure forms, finds that 52% plan to vote for Begich while 44% support Stevens. Alaskan Independence Party candidate Bob Bird picks up three percent (3%) of the vote while two percent (2%) remain undecided.
While of course it's not over till the polls are closed, this has to have SOME people at the Begich Campaign breathing at least a LITTLE easier.
Speaking of the Begich Campaign, I talked to them last night. It seems that Sen. Ted "7-times-a-felon" Stevens scheduled his big "welcome home" celebration for the EXACT SAME TIME that Begich already had a rally scheduled.
Gee...must be a coincidence...*cough*...*choke*...*gasp*
Today, folks are sending out truckloads of emails to let people know about Mark's rally and I figured I'd give them a hand by posting.
Now, I know the temptation is there to go to the "party" for Stevens at the airport to protest, but realize the media will be at both of these events...and will be comparing crowd size.
We REALLY want folks to see that Begich is the man we need to send to the Senate and we need to convince people that a "mercy...errrr...vote" for Stevens is a waste of time (as no one in the Senate wants him there or will work with him), it's a vote for a criminal, it's an embarassment to the entire state AND it's also a way for Sarah Palin to get one-step closer to the Presidency in 2012.
Here's a good description of the rally from Mike Coumbe of the Democratic Party:
Ted Stevens is coming back to Alaska TONIGHT (Wednesday) and will arrive at the Ted Stevens Airport with Senator Lisa Murkowski for a big rally. He is calling all of his supporters to meet him there to show support for keeping him in office. Despite his conviction on seven felony counts, he believes he can still win.
Coincidentally, the Begich campaign had already planned a big rally tonight at the same time for Mark. We need to have a big, big, BIG crowd. The press will be there and they will definitely be comparing crowd size so your body is needed!
Bring friends and family and children! We'll make it fun and we'll make it big.
You can call the Begich Campaign Headquarters at 272-6275 with any questions.
This election is not a foregone conclusion -- even with Stevens' felony convictions. We are very hopeful, but the only way to secure victory is to work our tails off these next six days.
Please come to the Rally Smack Down and let's rock and roll to election day. We need your help--Come show your support for Mark!
I'll be there with Morrigan so I hope to see you all there!
I talked about my experiences last week when I had ABC News Good Morning America in my living room for their Alaska segment of "50 States in 50 Days" which they are doing in concert with USA Today.
While I was a little concerned since they were rather vague regarding why they chose me, I figured this was a "culture" piece (not a lot of detail-just an "overview" of Alaska politics) so I didn't see a reason that it would be a hatchet job. I had my friend Ron with me and he watched the whole thing. He thought it went very well so I was somewhat less nervous about how it would turn out.
First off, they based their article on comments from alleged "independent" attorney Laura Bowen. Yet, when I did a simple search on her name, I found that she signed a "Draft Palin for VP" online petition months before she was chosen. I have strong suspicions that this woman works/volunteers for the McCain Palin Campaign, which would tarnish that "independent" title, wouldn't it?
And that would even be alright, if they spoke to an anti-Palin person to offset that...they didn't.
Anyway, below is the comment I left on the story:
Wow, this was just a bit inaccurate.
First off "independent Laura Bowen" signed a petition to "draft Sarah Palin for VP" LONG before she was picked by McCain. http://www.ipetitions.com/peti...
Maybe not QUITE so independent, huh?
I find it facinating that the Rovian Republican technique of accusing the other guy of what they were doing all along worked with the USA Today reporters.
You do realize that the McCain Campaign SENT IN PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE ALASKA to interfere with our state government, correct?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pal...
You do realize that Alaska State Workers were "instructed" to send any phone calls even breathing Palin's name, not to the state Communications person, but directly to the McCain Campain in Virginia, right?
You understand that the McCain Campaign's "Truth Squad" were the ones smearing people like Walt Monegan, Sen. Hollis French, Investigator Steven Branchflower and a myriad of other folks who "dared" to investigate the Governor and then find that she "abused her power," right?
http://www.ktuu.com/global/sto... http://www.divasblueoasis.com/...
You do understand that the only people who were able to stand up to this were folks like Republican Senate President Lyda Green, who is retiring, Representative Les Gara and Senator Bill Wielekowski, who have each received numerous abusive and threatening emails and phone calls, correct?
You do understand that the primary reason the Troopergate Report was released was due to a grassroots effort of Alaskans to try and offset the huge amount of pressure put on the Alaskan Legislative Council by the McCain Campaign to keep the report under wraps, right? http://alaskansfortruth.blogsp... http://mudflats.wordpress.com/...
I guess that "independent" Palin-bot Laura Bowen sure fooled you!
I encourage folks to read it and go leave their own comments.
I can only hope that my piece on "Good Morning America" tomorrow doesn't make me want to scream.
(I added the picture. I love Georgiana! - promoted by Celtic Diva)
Mark Begich with Alaska Native Leader Georgiana Lincoln
The best part of Mark Begich is now on display in his Plan for Rural Alaska. The core strength of the plan is Mark's special talent of connecting people-with-problems to people-with-solutions, and then supporting the outcome. Mark Begich is looking for good solutions, and believe me, new solutions are emerging. Here are a few of the progressive trends.
Outstanding leadership. Fire makes steel. The last 30 years has been a trial by fire for Alaska Native corporation non-profit, and government leadership. Today rural Alaska has the best corporate and government leaders in Alaska, and frankly, some of the best in the United States. Rural leadership is going to push Mark Begich faster than you might think, and Mark is exactly the leader to keep pace. Regions have formed integrated councils of regional leaders, combining corporate, nonprofit, and regional government experience and leadership. Look out!
Integrated solutions. You won't hear a rural leader talking about, for example, "taxes" alone. When taxes get discussed, so does spending and debt. When capital projects get discussed, so does sustainability. When infrastructure gets discussed, so does local ownership and control. When economic development gets discussed, so do local values and culture. When workforce capacity gets discussed, so does technical and higher education. Here come the solutions that actually work.
Hard core solutions. No more duct tape solutions. Rural leaders are talking about parity of infrastructure with the rest of Alaska. Here is a sampling...
Goodbye satellites. Hello big overland broadband. Hello to global market connectivity. Hello regional ownership and local jobs.
Natural gas spur lines. Rural Alaska produces it. Rural Alaska is going to use it. Hello again, regional ownership and local jobs.
Electrical interties. Optimal relocation of electrical generation, village-to-village interties, all with intelligent local wind generation grids. Again, hello regional ownership and local jobs.
Transportation. Careful deployment of road and rail, locally maintained, strongly focused on targeted economic development. Careful control of access to ANCSA corporation and tribal lands.
Utilidors. Planned overland containment of natural gas, power, transportation, and communications, all along unified paths. A single impact assessment of multiple projects leads to lower cost, fewer impacts, and faster deployment.
As a U.S. Senator, Begich pledges to fight for rural Alaska and build new relationships to ensure Alaska Native programs and services are protected, adding he will be a partner Alaska Natives can work with for years to come. Begich said as he has traveled to places such as Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Akiachak, Kasigluk and more, there has been a common theme.
Mark said:
"What I hear is that the people of rural Alaska are looking for change. Looking for new leadership to tackle the enormous challenges facing villages. Alaska is at an historic moment of change, the kind that comes only once in a generation."
"As I've traveled through rural Alaska, I have visited with elders, teachers, hospital staff, and community leaders. My rural plan is based on conversations and ideas I have heard loudly and clearly from Alaska's Native peoples."
Go below the fold to read key parts of Mark's rural plan include:
AKGovSarahPalin: See infrastructure @ work today: free Port of Anch tour (transport stop for nearly 85% of all AK goods); show your kids how we import/export
DavidCornDC: Palin twt: See infrastructure @ work: free Port of Anch tour/show ur kids how we imp/export. Me: Port sought stimulus $
