It is not who votes that matters, but who counts the votes.”
The quote above in various forms can be traced back to at least 1871, in a Thomas Nast cartoon about NYC elections under then Mayor “Boss” Tweed. More recently, it has been attributed second-hand to Josef Stalin.
Today, we have Assembly Member Chris Constant setting the stage for doing the same thing here in Anchorage with an ordinance that will give the Assembly control of Election Central’s building, stripping it from the Mayor in clear violation of the Municipal Charter.
The excuse for transfer is once again, the Assembly majority’s view that Mayor Bronson is not approaching COVID with sufficient vigor for their tender sensibilities. Last Tuesday night, Sept 14, the Assembly asserted its right to control its space after failing in their attempt to force Mayor Bronson, who by Municipal Charter is charged with authority over municipal operations which includes buildings and infrastructure.
Constant, LaFrance and fellow travelers demanded a masking mandate during Assembly meetings. Bronson refused to enforce one, leading directly to this proposed ordinance.
While it would be pure comedy gold to traverse this bunny trail down the primrose path of precisely what the Assembly means by a “presiding officer’s power and duties”, one only needs to consider that the Assembly does not control law enforcement in their meetings. They do not control utilities for their meetings, nor do they control IT support for their meetings. All of this is reliably and professionally provided by the Muni and their employees.
The fact that they want to include not only the Assembly Chambers in Loussac, but the Clerk’s office on the second floor of the Hill Building, and two rooms on the first floor of the Hill Building (a meeting room and the Assembly support office) is an indicator that something is not quite right here. But they tell us what they really want when they on an “oh, by the way” basis, throw in Election Central as part of their demands.
The shiny object is masking during Assembly meetings. The real intent is to grab complete, unaccountable control of Municipal elections and hide counting and access to that counting from the general public.
Constant, LaFrance and the rest of their fellow travelers don’t give a diddly about masks. They want control of vote counting, opaque, non-auditable control, in place before the April election next year, so as to defend their majority from voters who don’t agree with them.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
