Alaska’s elections head reflects on significant career, acknowledges issues with rural votes

(Alaska Beacon) – On her final day as director of the Alaska Division of Elections on Friday, Gail Fenumiai walked into her workplace in downtown Juneau and located a few hundred balloons all over the place – masking the ground, all of the surfaces and chairs.

Her whiteboard mentioned, “It’s the ultimate countdown” with the no. 1 beneath.

“I’m feeling a way of aid that the 2022 elections are just about closed out, and really feel happy with the employees right here and really feel like we did good,” Fenumiai mentioned about her final day of labor.

Having overseen elections in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2022 as elections director, Fenumiai is retiring at age 60. She began contemplating retirement in September and filed paperwork in October. She didn’t announce it publicly till after the November election.

Fenumiai’s profession with Elections began in 1988 when she was 26. She was working in Lt. Gov. Steve McAlpine’s workplace earlier than she first joined the division as election coordinator. After a yr and a half, she left to boost a household and did some temp work for the division earlier than returning in 1995. She labored in varied positions.

“I’ve accomplished just about all the things. I’ve accomplished the absentee program. I’ve accomplished petitions. I’ve accomplished candidacy filings,” she mentioned.

She left Elections once more in 2004 to work within the governor’s workplace, however returned in 2008 to change into the division director below Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. She remained director till mid-2015, when Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott requested Fenumiai to go away and changed her with Nome Metropolis Supervisor Josephine Bahnke. When Fenumiai left, she took an early retirement.

“Then I obtained one other name in 2018 asking if I might have an interest. And I mentioned, ‘I’ll give it some thought.’ After which I did interview once more they usually chosen me to come back again, so I’ve been again right here,” she mentioned.
‘Not a number of respiratory room’

The previous couple of years have been difficult, Fenumiai mentioned, particularly this previous yr. “There undoubtedly was not a number of respiratory room,” she mentioned.

After a pair years in pandemic mode, which was itself difficult, the division needed to rapidly pull collectively a by-mail statewide particular major election as a result of dying of Congressman Don Younger in March.

Fenumiai recalled when she first heard the information of Younger’s dying: “I obtained a name and I went, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s horrible.’ After which I went, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ That’s when the alarm began going off that we have to take a look at calendars and work out what does this actually imply? I assumed it meant a particular major.”

The Division of Elections held a particular major election in June that had an unprecedented area of 48 registered candidates. 

On high of that, there was redistricting and implementing ranked alternative voting – “a number of huge adjustments for the voters for use to.”

“Explaining ranked alternative voting was an enormous change, I believe, for the division,” she mentioned. “Attempting to coach them on what the brand new poll’s going to appear like, correctly mark your poll. And I’m actually happy with the work the division did in that regard.”

Following the particular election in June, the state has its first ranked alternative election in August to resolve who finishes Younger’s time period. On the identical poll, voters additionally determined in a pick-one major. Then, there was the overall election in November, which resulted in two recounts.

In Alaska’s Nov. 8 common election, ranked alternative voting outcomes weren’t tabulated till Nov. 23. The division additionally takes its time counting absentee ballots.

Fenumiai mentioned absentee ballots undergo a big evaluate course of, which impacts the tempo of counting. “It’s not like they arrive in they usually’re instantly capable of be counted,” she mentioned.

As soon as absentee ballots are returned to the division, employees log them in, evaluate them, and provides them a depend code, she mentioned. Then the absentee evaluate board evaluations all of them and double-checks the work. Fenumiai mentioned it’s higher to course of them in greater chunks versus every time ballots are acquired.

As for ranked alternative voting, “being that it was our first yr ever doing this, we actually thought we should always wait and simply do it on the finish of the absentee poll and query poll counting, after which once more on the finish of certification,” she mentioned.

Ranked alternative voting outcomes being launched sooner or in additional frequency could have resulted in candidates shifting backwards and forwards between successful and dropping, “and making an attempt to elucidate each time what occurred, I believe, would have been very tough for voters to grasp,” Fenumiai mentioned.

“Quick doesn’t all the time make it higher, so there’s one thing to be mentioned for ensuring you’re thorough. And it might not be as fast as candidates like, however I really feel that to make it possible for we’ve all our I’s dotted and our T’s crossed, this has labored one of the best for the division,” Fenumiai mentioned.

Challenges of the job

Fenumiai mentioned being election director all the time felt like the precise job for her and she or he “developed this very deep ardour for it.” She gave a number of credit score to her “high notch” coworkers.

“We’re serving to individuals vote,” she mentioned. “I simply love the work.”

That’s regardless of the challenges of working elections in Alaska, like the shortage of a street system in such a geographically giant state with 401 precincts and about 2,500 staff and employees, many non permanent staff.

“The most important problem is you may’t simply get in a automobile and go to a precinct in the event that they run out of ballots in a number of locations. We now have to rely closely on the publish workplace. We now have climate points. We now have storms. I believe the division has been very lucky to by no means have any huge disaster and never be capable to pull off an election,” Fenumiai mentioned.

Sadly, she mentioned, there have been occasions when precincts haven’t opened. Like this previous August. A considerable variety of voters in rural communities have been disenfranchised this previous yr.

Within the June by-mail particular major, a disproportionately giant variety of ballots from rural Alaska had been rejected. Two polling locations did not open as deliberate in August. This previous Election Day, two rural polling locations opened late.

“The day earlier than election day, the division has affirmation that we’ve staff in each single neighborhood. On the morning of Election Day, in the event that they don’t name and test in, we attain out to them. Typically it’s very laborious to achieve locations. Typically there’s telephone points. So, sadly, it’s a communication concern as nicely. I imply, it’s not something we wish to see occur,” she mentioned.

After the August election, seven villages’ ballots failed to achieve elections officers in time to be counted within the ranked alternative portion of the particular election. And ballots from six rural Alaska villages weren’t totally counted within the latest common election. The division acquired ballots from two of these precincts Thursday; ballots from the opposite 4 nonetheless haven’t arrived.

“Daily we had been following up, ‘The place are these at? The place are these at?’ And the employees say they put them within the mail. The publish workplace did a test of their locations and there’s nothing there. So it’s like they fall into this black gap after which abruptly they simply seem once more,” she mentioned.

Fenumiai mentioned she doesn’t really feel good when this stuff occur.

“When individuals have voted and we don’t get their stuff again from that precinct, that’s actually laborious as a result of it’s not the voters’ fault. And it’s actually laborious to pinpoint the place was the disconnect?” she mentioned.

Phrases of knowledge

Fenumiai supplied some phrases of knowledge for the subsequent director. “You need to hold partisan stuff out of this enterprise. I’ve by no means been a partisan individual, in order that was very simple for me,” she mentioned.

Different recommendation: Don’t assume you’re proper, hearken to your staff, “don’t veer from statute,” and be open and clear – “Don’t be afraid to reply the laborious questions.”

Lastly: “Keep in mind you’re the one accountable. The buck stops at you, so if there’s a mistake, come clean with it. Determine the way it’s not going to occur the subsequent time.”

As Fenumiai checked her telephone, she checked out textual content messages, some from members of the family, and she or he began to tear up.

“I don’t know what it’s going to really feel like not coming to work,” she’d mentioned earlier.

Fenumiai and her husband depart on a one-week journey to Costa Rica Saturday, “and I believe once we get again that’s when it might hit me.”