Alaskans can vote for salmon on Election Day Nov. 6
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Vote for salmon Nov. 6

14 Sep, 2018
in Newsletters, Wild Lands & Wildlife by

Alaskans can vote on salmon habitat protection this year. USFWS, Lisa Hupp.

Election Day is Nov. 6, but Alaskans need to know some other deadlines leading up to that day.

Register to vote

The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 7. Here are details on how to register. Make sure to tell people newly eligible to vote how to do it and where to go for help.

Vote early

Registered voters can cast ballots as early as Oct. 22. Early voting is the surest way to prevent an unexpected emergency from keeping you from voting.

Get an absentee ballot

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 27.  If you or anyone you know is already out of state at college, traveling, deployed, etc., request details on absentee voting and submit your ballot by Nov. 6, Election Day.

Sockeye salmon migration, aerial view, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. USFWS.

This year’s ballot will let you vote on how you want salmon protected

Public hearings on Ballot Measure 1 are already underway, with sessions in Anchorage on Sept. 18, Sitka on Sept. 21, Fairbanks on Sept. 24, Bethel on Sept. 25, Dillingham Sept. 29 and a statewide teleconference on Oct. 13.

What would Ballot Measure 1 do if passed? It would protect salmon habitat and Alaska’s fisheries.

Measure 1 protects salmon habitat by putting into place a tiered permitting system that requires more scrutiny on projects that do more harm.

Juvinile king salmon need specific habitat to survive. USFWS.

Measure 1 promotes a healthy Alaska economy.  It will protect long-term sustainable jobs in the fishing industry, along with jobs in tourism, recreation, hospitality, transportation, and other related sectors.

Measure 1 provides a sensible, fair, science-based update to the law. The current Fish and Game regulations span 1200 pages, but the rules on salmon habitat protections take up a scant few sentences on half a page. The law hasn’t been updated since statehood and needs strengthening. Measure 1 does that.

Measure 1 holds big development projects accountable. It would make sure that the corporations doing activities that affect salmon habitat must adequately prevent harm and fix whatever damage they do.  In other words, the burden of paying for damage done to salmon habitat will fall on those who did the damage, not on the public or those directly harmed by the damage.

Fishing in Alaska. Photo by Bob Waldrop.

Measure 1 gives power to Alaskans. The measure requires that Alaskans have a say in the permitting process for large development projects. Public input is a keystone of good decision-making. Right now, there is no way for Alaskans to have a say in what happens in their own communities.

Get out the vote!

Alaskans need to choose elected leaders and vote on important issues this November. Now’s the time to remind your friends, family members, new Alaskans and others about voting deadlines so that no one misses their chance.

Do you know kids in college out of state? Do you have friends deployed overseas? Do you know anyone traveling in the next few months, or undergoing medical procedures?

Help them out. Remind them to vote. Find out more about voting in Alaska and spread the word!

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