Election day has arrived! It is time to determine who will be the President of the United States for the next four years. It is also time for us to choose our state and national representatives.
The United States of America had its presidential election on November 5th, 2024. Election day is always held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The president of the United States of America was currently elected to be Donald Trump. Nick Begich and Mary Peltola competed for the Alaska House representative spot, and Begich took the majority vote. There were yes or no votes for ballot measures 1 and 2 and they both turned out to be a yes. Ballot measure 1 increases the minimum wage to $13 per hour in 2025, $14 per hour in 2026, and $15 per hour in 2027. This act requires paid sick leave for several employees and it prohibits employers from making their employees attend meetings about religious or political issues. Ballot measure 2 eliminates the party primary system, and the political parties no longer can select their candidates to appear on the general election ballot. The act creates an open nonpartisan primary where all candidates appear on a single ballot, and it establishes ranked-choice voting for the general election. The act also changes state elections law by setting new rules and penalties for campaign finance.
Our community voted at the senior center here in Tok, Alaska. Students who are 16 or older were able to help with the election, so a few Tok School students tagged along to help. Dawson Nelson, a student who helped run the poll, said “It was fun. I handed out stickers after people turned in their ballots. It was a cool experience.”
In addition, the high school social studies teacher, Mrs. Burnham, held a successful mock election on November 5th with the middle school and high school. Classes 6th-12th were able to vote on printouts of the sample ballots. Our school voted for Trump as president, Begich as the house representative (although it was close between Peltola and Begich), and Mike Cronk, and Rebecca Schwanke as our state government representatives. Our school voted yes on ballot measure 1, and a majority voted no on ballot measure 2.
Now we must wait for the next election!
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