ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaskans are preparing for a high-stakes Election Day on Tuesday, with a closely watched U.S. Senate race dominating political messaging and races for governor and the Legislature set to shape the direction of the state over the next few years.

As of Sunday, more than 90,000 Alaskans had already cast their ballots in early and absentee voting, out of about 605,000 total registered voters. Many early and absentee in-person voting locations were open Monday for Alaskans who wanted to vote early.

In the ranked choice general election, Alaskans will choose their preferred candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and 50 of 60 seats in the state Legislature. The ballot also includes judicial retention questions and two ballot measures. One would repeal the state’s current open primary and ranked choice election system as well as some campaign finance transparency laws. The other would clarify a law requiring that only citizens vote in elections, but wouldn’t change current requirements.

Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, which is one of a few in the country that could determine control of the chamber, has thrust the state’s election into the national spotlight. The scrutiny has only intensified since the Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stop the state’s election officials from certifying the results of the Senate race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit Sunday, and the federal government intends to appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

On the eve of Election Day, several candidates took to Anchorage streets to wave campaign signs and encourage voters to cast their ballots. Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Begich stood among a group of supporters at the intersection of Northern Lights Boulevard and the Seward Highway on Monday morning.

“Right now, it’s all about get out the vote, and making sure that people understand they have a responsibility and an awesome capability to select their representatives, and we should take that seriously. Whether we’re Republicans, Democrats, independents, everybody should make sure they get out and vote,” Begich said.

How and where to vote

On Election Day, polling places open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Voters must bring one form of identification to the polls, such as a driver’s license, voter ID, tribal ID, hunting or fishing license, or an official document with their name and address, like a utility bill or paycheck.

A list of polling place locations is available on the Alaska Division of Elections website. Voters can also locate their polling place by looking up their address on the state’s precinct map.

Voters who already requested an absentee ballot can return it to the Division of Elections in one of several ways: by mail, in person or via fax. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day in order to be counted. Voters can drop completed absentee ballots at polling places up until 8 p.m. Tuesday, and ballots cast via fax must also be received by the Division of Elections by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

All absentee ballots must include an identifier — such as driver’s license number or birth date — and must be signed by the voter and a witness. In the 2024 general election, the division rejected over 1,000 absentee ballots, many of which were due to “improper or insufficient witnessing.”

Alaska’s general election uses ranked choice voting, meaning that voters can rank the candidates in each race on the ballot in order of preference.

Under ranked choice tabulation in races with more than two candidates, if no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, then the candidate who received the fewest votes is eliminated. Their supporters’ votes are then redistributed to those voters’ second choices, in a process that has been compared to an instant runoff. The process continues until one of the candidates has received more than 50% of the vote.

When can Alaskans expect results?

The Division of Elections plans to certify the election results on Nov. 25. But there will be several rounds of preliminary results counted and released before then.

The first round of election results is set to be posted on election night around 8:45 or 9 p.m. Multiple updates will be made through the night and into the early morning, according to Division of Elections spokesperson Steve Kirch.

Results posted on election night will include ballots cast at polling places on Election Day and early votes cast from Oct. 19 through Oct. 29, according to the Division of Elections. The division has scheduled a seven-day count of absentee ballots for Nov. 10 and a 10-day count for Nov. 13. Absentee ballots are set to be counted starting on Election Day, according to the division.

The preliminary results will only show voters’ first-choice rankings. That means in races with more than two candidates, the preliminary results may not necessarily indicate a front-runner, if no candidate gets more than 50% of the first-choice vote.

Nov. 18 is the deadline for the last absentee by-mail ballots to arrive at the Division of Elections. On that day, all remaining votes will be counted, and ranked choice tabulation will take place.

The results are scheduled to be certified one week later, on Nov. 25.

What’s on the ballot?

Governor

The candidates running to replace Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is termed out from seeking reelection, are Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former Sitka legislator, and Republicans Bernadette Wilson, a business owner; Dave Bronson, the former Anchorage mayor; and former Attorney General Treg Taylor.

U.S. Senate

Running for U.S. Senate are Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and three Republicans: Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent senator; Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg; and Gerald Heikes, a perennial candidate from Palmer.

U.S. House

The U.S. House candidates are Republican incumbent Rep. Nick Begich; independent Bill Hill, a fisherman and retired educator from Southwest Alaska; Democrat Eric Hafner, a convicted felon currently incarcerated in New York; and Libertarian Jim McDermott, a retired Air Force master sergeant.

Alaska Legislature

All 40 seats in the state House of Representatives are up for election. Ten of Alaska’s 20 Senate seats are also on the ballot.

Two ballot measures

Ballot Measure 2 would repeal Alaska’s nonpartisan open primary and ranked choice general election system, which voters approved in an initiative in 2020. If Ballot Measure 2 is approved, primary elections would once again be controlled by political parties, and voters would select a single candidate in general elections.

The ballot measure would also repeal several campaign finance requirements approved as part of the 2020 initiative, including a provision requiring disclosure of the “true source” of political spending — the person or entity that actually supplied the money.

Ballot Measure 3 would specify in state law that only U.S. citizens may vote. Alaska law already requires someone to be a U.S. citizen before they can vote, and the act would not change any existing voter requirements.

Judges

Voters across the state will be asked whether Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jude Pate should be retained for a 10-year term.

Depending on the district, voters will also see judicial retention questions for Superior Court and District Court judges.

The Alaska Judicial Council reviews judges’ performances and issues recommendations for or against retention. They have recommended that voters reject two Kenai judges, and issued no recommendation on one Juneau judge.

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(The Daily News’ Marc Lester contributed reporting.)

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