Early voting in Alaska began on Monday, October 21. According to a report sent out by the Alaska Division of Election, just over 20,000 Alaskans voted during the first four days of early voting. These numbers show that Republicans are outpacing Democrats nearly three to one in early voting.

Here is a breakdown of the 20,001 early votes case between Monday and Thursday:

• 7,449 Republican (37.5%)
• 5,499 Undeclared (27.5%)
• 3,589 Nonpartisan (17.9%)
• 2,859 Democrat (14.3%)
• 430 Alaska Independence Party 
• 94 Libertarian
• 81 all others

The last absentee report sent out by the Division of Elections was on Wednesday. By that point just over 13,000 absentee ballots had been returned. More than 61,000 Alaskans have requested an absentee ballot so far. 

Here is the breakdown of absentee returns as of Wednesday: 

• 3,892 Republican (29.7%)
• 3,252 Democrat (24.8%)
• 3,203 Undeclared (22.4%)
• 2,295 Nonpartisan (17.5%)
• 335 Alaska Independence Party 
• 63 Libertarian
• 61 all others

Historically in Alaska, Republicans have preferred voting absentee while Democrats have preferred early voting. However, mail-in voting in 2020 was historically high due to Covid.

In 2020, many Republicans chose to vote in-person on election day opposed to early or by mail. This was in part due to Donald Trump and national Republicans telling their voters to vote in-person on election day. That is not the case this year. 

What is interesting about the current early voting numbers is how much higher of a percentage Republicans are voting compared to the percentage of Republicans registered statewide. As of October 3, 146,161 Republicans are registered in Alaska, or 23.9%. Compare that to the 37.5% that have early voted so far.

Are these low propensity Republican voters coming out to vote for Donald Trump? Or are they voters who would normally vote in-person on election day and are early voting instead? That is the big question. 

Democrats are are also early voting at a higher rate than their statewide percentage, but only by a small margin. There are 75,066 registered Democrats in Alaska, or 12.3%. Compare that to the 14.3% who have early voted so far.

Undeclared voters are early voting at much lower rates than their statewide percentage. There are 273,040 registered Undeclared voters in Alaska, or 44.8%. Compare that to the 27.5% of Undeclared voters who have early voted so far.

For registered Nonpartisan voters, it’s 84,690, or 13.9%. Compare that to the 17.9% of Nonpartisan voters who have early voted so far. 

Here are the early voting and absentee numbers for some of the highly contested House races.

House District 9

Early

Republican Lucy Bauer vs. independent Ky Holland 

• 235 Republican
• 101 Democrat 
• 202 Undeclared 
• 150 Nonpartisan
• 10 all others 

Absentee 

• 154 Republican
• 148 Democrat 
• 166 Undeclared 
• 146 Nonpartisan
• 14 all others 

House District 11

Early

Representative Julie Coulombe (R – Anchorage) vs. independent Walter Featherly

• 193 Republican
• 74 Democrat 
• 163 Undeclared 
• 114 Nonpartisan
• 16 all others 

Absentee 

• 129 Republican
• 144 Democrat 
• 125 Undeclared 
• 91 Nonpartisan
• 11 all others 

House District 18

Early

Representative Cliff Groh (D – Anchorage) vs. former Republican Representative David Nelson

• 39 Republican
• 32 Democrat 
• 44 Undeclared 
• 22 Nonpartisan
• 4 all others 

Absentee 

• 158 Republican
• 80 Democrat 
• 97 Undeclared 
• 53 Nonpartisan
• 15 all others 

*This district includes the military base 

House District 22

Early

Representative Stanley Wright (R – Anchorage) vs. Democrat Ted Eischeid 

• 73 Republican
• 49 Democrat 
• 71 Undeclared 
• 34 Nonpartisan
• 9 all others 

Absentee 

• 57 Republican
• 65 Democrat 
• 59 Undeclared 
• 28 Nonpartisan
• 9 all others 

House District 31

Early

Representative Maxine Dibert (D – Fairbanks) vs. former Republican Representative Bart LeBon

• 105 Republican
• 77 Democrat 
• 101 Undeclared 
• 67 Nonpartisan
• 17 all others 

Absentee 

• 44 Republican
• 27 Democrat 
• 29 Undeclared 
• 20 Nonpartisan
• 5 all others 

Early voting is open everyday at locations throughout the state through November 4. You can check the Division of Elections website for early voting location and hours of operation.