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Votes lost, bought, mistallied, complaint says

December 9th 1:04 am | Carey Restino Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

North Slope Borough mayor candidate George Ahmaogak presented a dizzying array of accusa- tions concerning last month's runoff election at a meeting Friday that began the official investigation of the election's validity. Ahmaogak, who appar- ently lost the election by 62 votes to Charlotte Brower, claims vote counts varied widely from day to day following the election, and that little or no explanation has been given to discrepancies.

In addition, Ahmaogak claims that borough assemblyman Forrest "Deano" Olemaun tried to buy votes, a claim that the investigating attorney Dennis E. "Skip" Cook, said should be referred to the proper authorities.

Also included in the election contest is the claim that ballots may have been left unattended. On Nov. 11, North Slope Borough Clerk Jeannie Brower was involved in an automobile accident near the airport and, according to court records, was arrest- ed for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Brower later plead guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driv- ing. Ahmaogak's contest questions whether Brower, who was driving a borough vehicle at the time of the accident, was picking up ballots when arrested. The paperwork also accuses Brower of improperly counting votes when feeding them into the vote-counting machines.

"As one of the candidates, I want to have reasonable faith and confidence that the voter's will was upheld in electing the highest office in our land," Ahmaogak wrote in a state- ment. "Given the widespread and fundamental nature of these potential violations, and given the narrow margin between the candidates, it is evident that the issues we raise could affect the outcome."

Vote counts changed

At the heart of Ahmaogak's contest of election claim is that vote tallies released following the runoff election con- tained numerous discrepancies ranging from unexplained changes in numbers to incongruent totals. For example, in Anaktuvuk Pass, a total of 175 ballots were issued and 79 returned unused. That would leave 96 ballots used, but only 64 ballots were reported as cast, a difference of 32 ballots.

Numbers also allegedly changed a great deal between data distributed on Nov. 11 and the vote tallies presented on Nov. 15. Anaktuvuk Pass' vote count shifted from 96 to 67 votes, for example. The total number of official ballots issued changed, Ahmaogak alleges. In the first document, the claim was that 1869 ballots were issued, while a second document shows 1840.

"The numbers just don't add up," Ahmaogak said. "There are too many inconsistencies and too few explanations. Votes are missing. That means votes aren't counted. I don't have reasonable faith and confidence that the voter's will is upheld and I am not convinced that all the votes were counted."

The North Slope Borough agreed to respond to Ahmaogak's allegations by the middle of this week, and provide public access to all documents via the borough's Web site.

Olemaun accused of buying votes

Perhaps the most egregious claim made by Ahmaogak is that Olemaun paid at least one voter to vote for Charlotte Brower. In the election contest form, Ahmaogak claims that Simon Toovak has provided him with a sworn affidavit claiming that on the day of the run-off election, Olemaun allegedly stated, "I'll give you $100 to vote for Charlotte Brower." Toovak took the money and went to vote, the state- ment says. More voters were allegedly approached with the same offer on Facebook, the claim states.

At the hearing Friday, the attorneys debated how the claim, which constitutes a felony under state law for both the briber and those who accepted the bribe, should be han- dled. It was agreed that those charges would be forwarded to the district attorney's office. Who exactly would take that action, however, was unclear by the end of the meeting. Investigating Officer Cook told Ahmaogak's attorney that he would be interested in contacting whomever was assigned to investigate the claim once the claim was made, but that investigating a criminal matter like that was beyond the scope of his position.

Olemaun spoke several times on Friday about the matter, noting that he knew it was a crime to bribe someone, said that he looked forward to the investigation.

"I'm not a party to this action, but my name and alleged action are being thrown around like a tennis ball like I don't exist," Olemaun said. "I understand this is a serious matter and I welcome the investigation so we could take this col- lateral issue out of the focus."

Election certification, contest questioned

The North Slope Borough moved to certify the election on Nov. 23, a move that Ahmaogak claims was against the recommendation of then borough attorney Bessie O'Rourke, but not before launching an independent investigation into Ahmaogak's contest of the election. At the Friday meeting, however, attorney Stephen McAlpine, representing Charlotte Brower, said he questioned whether some of the allegations in Ahmaogak's contest of the election should be allowed to be addressed.

"We believe the charges should have been thrown out," said McAlpine, citing an initial failure by Ahmaogak to provide specifics.

Cook said he was still trying to establish a process for proceeding with the investigation, and noted at one point that it appeared borough code stated that the entire investi- gation must go forward in public.

Cook asked that the borough as well as representing attorneys, convene again on Dec. 12 at 2 p.m.

 

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