Opinion ID: 1180991
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Absentee ballots with late postmarks.

Text: AS 15.20.150 [8] sets out the procedure to be followed for the casting and counting of absentee ballots. Under the statute, a person wishing to cast an absentee ballot places the ballot in a plain envelope which is then placed inside a larger envelope. The voter then signs the voter's certificate on the back of the large envelope in the presence of an attesting witness. The voter's certificate includes a space for the date. The statute provides that the ballot must then be returned to an election office postmarked no later than election day. Upon receipt of an absentee ballot, the election official marks it with a stamp indicating the date received. In this case, six ballots with postmarks and date stamps later than election day were counted in the recount. Each of the ballots had been signed by attesting witnesses, and the date space on the voter's certificate indicated that the vote had been cast on or before election day. Appellant Willis maintains that these ballots should not have been counted. In Hammond v. Hickel , we were asked to review AS 15.20.150 to determine whether certain absentee ballots which did not bear postmarks or had not been either witness-dated or date-stamped by election officials should be counted. It was not necessary to resolve the precise question presented here  whether absentee ballots bearing unexplained late postmarks but timely witness dates should be counted  because the parties stipulated that ballots bearing late postmarks would not be counted. Nevertheless, our ruling in Hammond v. Hickel provides the controlling principles to be applied in this case. We held that the postmark, witness date and date stamping provisions of AS 15.20.150 were directory and not mandatory, [9] stating that: The purpose of AS 15.20.150 and of AS 15.20.170 is to provide methods by which to insure that absentee ballots have been cast on or before election day. All absentee ballots in question here were objectively determined to have been cast on or before the election day. The mandatory requirement that ballots be marked on or before election day is satisfied by a date received stamp, or a postmark, or the date of witnessing of the voter certificate, or any combination of these. 588 P.2d at 269 (emphasis added). In this case each of the challenged absentee ballots had been signed by a witness on or before election day. Each ballot thus carried some indication that it had been cast in a timely manner. The late postmarks were, for the most part, easily explainable. One voter, for example, cast his ballot at the United States Embassy in Rabat, Morocco. The ballot was witness-dated November 7, 1978, but apparently went through State Department mail channels and was not postmarked until November 17, 1978 in Washington, D.C. Other ballots were postmarked on November 8, 1978. There was evidence that depending upon where a letter is mailed from, and the collection time for that location, a letter could be mailed on one day and yet bear the next day's postmark. The purpose of AS 15.20.150 is to insure that absentee ballots are cast on or before election day. 588 P.2d at 269. That purpose was fulfilled here. No evidence of fraud or impropriety has been brought forth regarding any of the challenged ballots. They were properly counted in the recount.