This year, Grace Haas did not have to choose which of the "I voted" stickers she picked at the Bethel polls.
“I have multiple stickers because they let me. I'll put them on my water bottles because I do Awana with a lot of kids. So I want to tell them about voting,” Haas said, grinning.
Like all Bethel residents, Haas cast her vote for the 2026 midterm election inside of Bethel’s Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center. Outside, the parking lot was packed as Elders, parents with infants, and whole families flocked inside to cast their vote.
Hass got a free ride to the polls from an Election Day service provided by the Native American Rights Fund. Other cabs and shuttles steadily rolled through in what felt like a continuous rush hour of voter traffic.
Hass said that this busy scene felt out of the ordinary. “I've been in Bethel for 30 years, and this is — I am so tickled to see how many people coming out,” she said.
As of 5:30 PM on Tuesday (Nov. 3), over 1,050 in-person votes had been cast between Bethel's two voting precincts. That’s in addition to at least 100 questioned ballots, which are pending verification.
City officials also say more absentee ballots were cast than in any election in recent memory. A total of 264 Bethel residents voted prior to Election Day, surpassing the total number of in-person votes cast in Bethel’s recent municipal election.
That puts preliminary vote tallies higher than the total number of votes cast in the 2024 presidential election by Bethel residents: 1,156.
“I think it's because people are waking up to the importance of that each vote counts,” she said. “Every person's vote is important.”
And it was not just a lunchtime rush, according to chairperson of Bethel Precinct 2 Julie McWilliams. She said that when voting opened at 7:00 a.m., there was a line outside the cultural center waiting for poll workers. After that, it was a continuous stream of Bethel voters.
“I just feel proud for the number of people that are showing up to do the elections today, and it's always fun to see people you recognize. But it's also fun to see a lot of unfamiliar faces, knowing that there are people from all parts of Bethel that are showing up to do their civic duty,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams said that it’s been a pleasant surprise to see this kind of local engagement, in numbers that feel similar to Bethel’s voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election.
“I do feel the same kind of excitement and energy at this election,” McWilliams said. “I think that people that are coming in have a sense of importance and want to make sure their vote is counted.”
Bethel voters said that a variety of reasons pulled them to the polls.
Bethel voter Carey Atchak said that the bigger issues facing the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta helped inform who she voted for.
“The amount we have to pay for gas and fuel is pretty crazy, and then fishing is a pretty hot topic for our family,” Atchak said.
As for voter Erin Fox, she said that she went to the polls to use her vote as her voice.
“I always looked at this doing my, seeing my parents go here and vote, and I was like, 'I can't wait to be that old to be able to have a voice.' And now I'm here,” Fox said.
Fox said that specific United States Senate and House District 38 candidates were what was most important to her on the ballot.
“I know Mary [Peltola] and I know CJ [McCormick], and I wanted them to get my vote. They have my vote, and so that's why I'm here today,” Fox said.
Allen Alirker said that voting to keep ranked choice voting was important to him, as was the act of showing up at the polls this year.
“Last year I didn't vote, so I made a commitment that I'm going to vote this year,” Alirker said.
Alirker said that watching certain campaigns this election season helped bring him to the polls. “I think I was kept seeing a lot of ads on YouTube and TV and so forth. So I decided to vote this year,” he said.
After moving to Bethel a year ago, it was Ora Gondwe’s first time voting in Alaska. She said that she was excited to cast her vote. To her, it was a way of being a participant of the place she lives in.
“Being able to vote and be a part of the community, having a say in what goes on,” Gondwe said.
Gondwe said that the U.S. Senate race was of particular importance to her on the midterm ballot.
“Because the decisions being made involving the fishing, and having been here last year, and the ability to go fishing last year, and compared to this year, where there were not so many fish, I felt that yeah, we need to get someone in there that would help help out the local people,” Gondwe said.
Polls across Alaska close at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Alaska Division of Elections expects to release preliminary results late Tuesday evening and estimates that ballots will be certified by Nov. 25.
