AS Title 15, Chapter 58: Election Pamphlet

Chapter 58. Election Pamphlet. Sec. 15.58.010. Election pamphlet. Before each state general election, and before each state primary, special, or special primary election at which a ballot proposition is scheduled to appear on the ballot, the lieutenant governor shall prepare, publish, and mail at least one election pamphlet to each household identified from the official registration list. The pamphlet shall be prepared on a regional basis as determined by the lieutenant governor. Sec. 15.58.020. Contents of pamphlet. (a) Each general election pamphlet must contain (1) photographs and campaign statements submitted by eligible candidates for elective office in the region; (2) information and recommendations filed under AS 15.58.050 on judicial officers subject to a retention election in the region; (3) a map of the house district or districts of the region; (4) sample ballots for house districts of the region; (5) an absentee ballot application; (6) for each ballot proposition submitted to the voters by initiative or referendum petition or by the legislature, (A) the full text of the proposition specifying constitutional or statutory provisions proposed to be affected; (B) the ballot title and the summary of the proposition prepared by the director or by the lieutenant governor; (C) a statement of the costs to the state of implementing the law proposed in an initiative, or of voter approval or rejection of the act that is the subject of a referendum; (D) a neutral summary of the proposition prepared by the Legislative Affairs Agency; (E) statements submitted that advocate voter approval or rejection of the proposition not to exceed 500 words; (7) for each bond question, a statement of the scope of each project as it appears in the bond authorization; (8) a maximum of two pages of material submitted under AS 15.58.040 by each political party; (9) additional information on voting procedures that the lieutenant governor considers necessary; (10) for the question whether a constitutional convention shall be called, (A) a full statement of the question placed on the ballot; (B) statements not to exceed 500 words that advocate voter approval or rejection of the question; (11) under AS 37.13.170 , the Alaska permanent fund annual income statement and balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the election pamphlet; (12) under AS 15.10.090 , notice of (A) the establishment or abolition of a precinct; (B) the designation, abolition, or modification of precinct boundaries; and (C) a change in the location of a polling place; (13) the following statement written in bold in a conspicuous location: Each candidate may designate the political party or political group that the candidate is registered as affiliated with. A candidate's political party or political group designation on a ballot does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party or political group or that the party or group approves of or associates with that candidate. In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. If a primary election was held for a state office, United States senator, or United States representative, the four candidates who received the most votes for the office in the primary election advanced to the general election. However, if one of the four candidates who received the most votes for an office at the primary election died, withdrew, resigned, was disqualified, or was certified as incapacitated 64 days or more before the general election, the candidate who received the fifth most votes for the office advanced to the general election. At the general election, each candidate will be selected through a ranked-choice voting process and the candidate with the greatest number of votes will be elected. For a general election, you must rank the candidates in the numerical order of your preference, ranking as many candidates as you wish. Your second, third, and subsequent ranked choices will be counted only if the candidate you ranked first does not receive enough votes to continue on to the next round of counting, so ranking a second, third, or subsequent choice will not hurt your first-choice candidate. Your ballot will be counted regardless of whether you choose to rank one, two, or more candidates for each office, but it will not be counted if you assign the same ranking to more than one candidate for the same office. (b) Each primary, special, or special primary election pamphlet shall contain only the information specified in (a)(6) and (a)(9) of this section for each ballot measure scheduled to appear on the primary, special, or special primary election ballot. (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, if a pamphlet is prepared and published under AS 15.58.010 for a (1) primary election, the pamphlet must contain the following statement written in bold in a conspicuous location, instead of the statement provided by (a)(13) of this section: In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. The four candidates who receive the most votes for a state office, United States senator, or United States representative will advance to the general election. However, if, after the primary election and 64 days or more before the general election, one of the four candidates who received the most votes for an office at the primary election dies, withdraws, resigns, is disqualified, or is certified as incapacitated, the candidate who received the fifth most votes for the office will advance to the general election. Each candidate may designate the political party or political group that the candidate is registered as affiliated with. A candidate's political party or political group designation on a ballot does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party or group or that the party or group approves of or associates with that candidate; (2) special primary election, the pamphlet must contain the following statement written in bold in a conspicuous location, instead of the statement provided by (a)(13) of this section: In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. The four candidates who receive the most votes for a state office or United States senator will advance to the special election. However, if, after the special primary election and 64 days or more before the special election, one of the four candidates who received the most votes for a state office or United States senator at the primary election dies, withdraws, resigns, is disqualified, or is certified as incapacitated, the candidate who received the fifth most votes for the office will advance to the general election. Each candidate may designate the political party or political group that the candidate is registered as affiliated with. A candidate's political party or political group designation on a ballot does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party or group or that the party or group approves of or associates with that candidate. Sec. 15.58.030. Material to be filed by candidate. (a) No later than August 30 of a presidential election year, candidates for the offices of the United States President and Vice-President may file with the lieutenant governor photographs and statements advocating their candidacy. (b) Not later than July 22 of a year in which a state general election will be held, an individual who becomes a candidate for the office of United States senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, state senator, or state representative under AS 15.25.030 may file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement advocating the candidacy. (c) Each candidate for an office designated under (a) or (b) of this section is allowed one page of space in the pamphlet for a photograph and statement. (d) Pages on which candidates' photographs or statements appear must be clearly identified with the words “provided and paid for by the candidate.” (e) A candidate's statement must be typewritten and is limited to a position statement of 250 words or less and a biographical statement of 150 words or less. (f) A candidate's photograph must be 5" x 7" in size and must have been taken within the past five years. The photograph must be limited to the head, neck, and shoulders of the candidate. All photographs shall be printed in black and white. (g) No later than August 7 of the year in which the state general election will be held, a person seeking retention in office as a justice or judge may file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement advocating the candidacy. (h) The lieutenant governor shall prepare and publish on the division's Internet website the photograph and statement of a candidate for an office designated under (a), (b), or (g) of this section. The lieutenant governor shall indicate that the photograph and statement are provided and paid for by the candidate. A photograph and a statement of a candidate that have been timely filed with the lieutenant governor shall be published on the website at least 15 days before an election at which the candidate will appear on the ballot. Sec. 15.58.040. Material to be filed by political parties. (a) No later than July 15 of a year in which a state general election will be held, a political party may file with the lieutenant governor a maximum of two pages of material. (b) Each page purchased must be clearly identified with the words “paid for by” followed by the name of the political party, the name of the state chairperson of the party, and the name of the party treasurer. (c) Material submitted by a political party may not (1) include images, except for graphic elements including party logos; (2) directly or indirectly advocate (A) for or against, or use the name of, another political party; (B) for the election or defeat or use the name of a person who is (i) a candidate for municipal, state, or federal public office; (ii) a public official, as that term is defined in AS 39.50.200 (a); (iii) a member of the legislature; (iv) elected or appointed to public office in the federal government. (d) Nothing in (c) of this section prohibits a political party from submitting material that promotes the political party's (1) candidates generally, without naming individual persons; or (2) platform, tenets, or philosophy. Sec. 15.58.050. Information and recommendations on judicial officers. No later than August 7 of the year in which the state general election will be held, the judicial council shall file with the lieutenant governor a statement including information about each supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, superior court judge, and district court judge who will be subject to a retention election. The statement shall reflect the evaluation of each justice or judge conducted by the judicial council according to law and shall contain a brief statement describing each public reprimand, public censure, or suspension received by the judge under AS 22.30.011 (d) during the period covered in the evaluation. A statement may not exceed 600 words. Sec. 15.58.060. Charges for space in pamphlet. (a) Each general election candidate shall pay to the lieutenant governor at the time of filing material under this chapter the following: (1) President or Vice-President of the United States, United States senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, supreme court justice, and court of appeals judge, $300 each; (2) superior court judge and district court judge, $150 each; (3) state senator and state representative, $100 each. (b) Subject to the page limitation under AS 15.58.020 (a)(8), the state chair or executive committee of a political party shall pay to the lieutenant governor at the time of filing material under AS 15.58.040 $600 for each page purchased. (c) There is no charge for statements and recommendations submitted by the judicial council or for statements advocating approval or rejection of a proposition submitted to the voters for approval. Sec. 15.58.070. Organization of material. [Repealed, § 92 ch 82 SLA 2000.] Sec. 15.58.080. Distribution. (a) Not less than 22 days before the general election, the lieutenant governor shall mail to every registered voter one copy of the pamphlet prepared for the region in which the voter resides. Additional pamphlets may be obtained from the director, the office of the lieutenant governor, and the area election offices. (b) The state library shall make a recording of the appropriate regional pamphlet available to a blind voter without cost. The lieutenant governor shall assist with the preparation of recording each regional pamphlet. Sec. 15.58.090. Delegation by lieutenant governor. The lieutenant governor may delegate the duties imposed by this chapter to the director.