Not So "Super"… Local Republicans Struggle To Vote On Super Tuesday

Republican Committee Told Copper Center Couple To Drive 200 Miles To Valdez Or Delta Junction To Vote 

Said There Were Not Enough Volunteers 

 

Barb & John Eaton 

LETTER TO THE JOURNAL: We were not allowed to vote today. The local voting locations for the entire Copper Valley which includes; Copper Center, Glennallen, Gakona and Kenny Lake etc were not available. After calling the Republican Committee 907-868-1093 they weren't able to get volunteers to run the voting locations. If we want to vote we need to drive to Delta Junction or Valdez 200 miles away.
-- Barb & John Eaton, Copper Center, March 5th, "Super Tuesday"

When Barb and John Eaton tried to vote on Tuesday, March 5th, they couldn't find a place to go. And they weren't exactly sure what was happening. By day's end, they still hadn't found a polling place, and they were increasingly upset. At 5:30 pm, after a long and frustrating day, they were left with nothing but questions. 

"We expected better. I was one of the first ones who got to vote at 18, in 1973, when they changed the vote to 18 years old," said Barb. 

Said John: "I think this boils down to the Alaskan Republican Party dropping the ball. This isn't a state election; it was a Republican election." Just trying to vote was impossible. After coming up against increasing roadblocks, "We started to get in touch with all our friends by internet and telling them don't drive in to Glennallen." 

Barb told the Journal. "They were not getting out the word on what they're doing. We went to vote in Kluti-Kaah.  But there was no voting going on there in Copper Center. So then we went to Glennallen, and there was no voting place in Glennallen. So we came home and started making phone calls. I ended up calling all the wrong people – who told me it was a Republican primary."

She said, "I started with the state. I called Fairbanks right away. That was the Eletion Board. They didn't really know what's going on. They told me to call the Republican Committee.

"When I called there, and got through, they told us we didn't have all the normal voting places because we didn't have any volunteers. That's hard to believe we couldn't come up with any volunteers in Copper Center, or Glennallen or Kenny Lake or Gakona. We are a volunteer-based community. I work with the Community Library in Glennallen. We're volunteer based. And I sure don't know of any calls that went out asking for volunteers."

Barb pointed out the library is even listed on the web as a polling place.

"I went into the LIO, right by the library, and he was getting a lot of unhappy calls. A lot of complaints. People not understanding what's going on. I called back to the Republican national number and the mailbox is full and not taking calls."

Voting on Super Tuesday was just not gonna happen. And nobody was available to explain why. Said Barb, "I just don't understand why we didn't vote today."