Alaska Supreme Court
Benjamin N. Nageak, Appellant v. Byron Mallott, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Alaska, and Josephine Bahnke…
August 31, 2018426 P.3d 930
Summary
The court held that election-official errors in Shungnak were properly treated as malconduct in an election contest, but Nageak failed to prove that the malconduct was sufficient to change the election result. It held that the Division improperly counted two questioned Kivalina ballots but properly counted the Shungnak and Buckland ballots, and it affirmed Westlake's certification after adjusting the totals to 824 votes for Westlake and 816 for Nageak. WINFREE, Justice, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have affirmed the trial court's finding that the Shungnak malconduct could have affected the result and ordered a new election.