Election Law @ Moritz

Recent Opinion Articles

Archives: by Date | by Author
Edward B. Foley
Free & Fair is a collection of writings by Edward B. Foley, one of the nation's preeminent experts on election law.

State-by-State Coverage (Alaska)

Recent News & Analysis

Below are the most recent Alaska News & Analysis posts. See All Alaska News & Analysis

11/19/08
Alaska Senate race: Begich defeats Stevens and a recount is unlikely

Senator Ted Stevens has been defeated by challenger Mark Begich in the Alaska Senate race by a margin of close to 1%.  State-funded automatic recounts are triggered by margins smaller than 0.5% but a candidate would have to request a recount and pay the approximate $15,000 cost were the margin larger.  The Alaska race has been closely watched for many reasons such as the length of Stevens' time in office and his criminal trial and conviction right before the election.  Alaska is also an interesting place because of its huge and challenging geography and the difficulties that can create in election administration.  [Read More]

11/13/08
Begich leads Stevens by 814 votes in Alaska Senate race

Challenger Begich is ahead by 814 votes in the race against Ted Stevens.  Out of 495,731 registered voters in Alaska, 282,996 cast ballots including 278,837 votes in the Begich/Stevens race according to this report from the Alaska Division of Elections.  It is not entirely clear whether more ballots remain to be counted.  This Nov. 10 memo from state officials said that most of the outstanding ballots would be counted on Nov. 12.  But the division's homepage has an entry indicating that the vote count is complete.  Update (9:51 AM EST): Roughly 40,000 more ballots remain to be counted according to this report from The Anchorage Daily News.  [Read More]

11/7/08
Alaska Senate race outcome will not be known until Nov. 14

The outcome of the Alaska Senate race between Stevens and Begich will not be known until Nov. 14 at the earliest.  Alaska law provides that absentee ballots must be postmarked by election day and received by the 10th day after the election which is Nov. 14 this year.  AS 15.20.081.  In addition to these, early in-person and provisional ballots also remain uncounted for a total of about 70,000 outstanding ballots. [Read More]

11/6/08
Close races update - NC goes for Obama, OR Senate race called, 55,000 votes to be counted in Alaska Senate race

The AP has called the North Carolina race for Obama after determining there are not enough provisional ballots or other uncounted ballots remaining for McCain to close the gap.

Merkley has unseated incumbent Smith in the Oregon Senate race.

55,000 votes remain to be counted in the Alaska Senate race between Stevens and Begich.

The vote gap is narrowing between Franken and Coleman in Minnesota's Senate race and OH-15's House race between Stivers and Kilroy. 

A run-off election has been scheduled in Georgia for the Senate race between Chambliss and Martin. [Read More]

Recent Commentary

There are no commentaries on Alaska that Election Law @ Moritz has covered, or is covering at this time.

Recent News Stories

Below are the most recent Alaska News Stories. See All Alaska News Stories

11/13/08
Begich Takes 814-Vote Lead in Alaska Senate Race

Democratic challenger Mark Begich held an 814-vote lead over Republican Sen. Ted Stevens early Thursday as Alaska counted the absentee ballots and early ballots that weren’t tallied on Election Day.

11/12/08
30 percent of Alaska ballots still uncounted

A week after Election Day, about 30 percent of the Alaska votes that will decide the fate of convicted U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens haven't been counted.

11/7/08
Convicted Stevens holds slim lead in US Senate race

The fate of a convicted felon will help determine the size of the Democrats' expanded power in the U.S. Senate, and may provide a new job opportunity for failed vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Current Litigation

There are no active cases on Alaska that Election Law @ Moritz is covering at this time. See All Archived Cases on Alaska