2016 General Election certified

The Division of Elections reported a record turnout for early, absentee and questioned ballots, as it announced Thursday that the 2016 General Election is certified.

A total of 321,271 ballots were cast. Of those, more than 123,000 were early voting, absentee or questioned ballots. In 2014 about 90,000 voters chose to cast their ballots using those methods, according to Division of Elections Director Josie Bahnke.

"Approximately 32% of Alaskans voted via an alternative method this year, and the division expects that voting trend to continue to increase in future elections," Bahnke said.

Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott signed the election certification documents in Juneau.

To view the official election results, click

It's official — an Alaska Division of Elections review board certified its results for the 2016 General Election Wednesday afternoon in Juneau. On Thursday Governor Bill Walker and Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott will certify the election.

Checking the results from 321,271 voters took about a week, according to Brian Jackson, Elections Program Manager for the Division of Elections.

Board members compared reports from the Division of Elections system against various election materials, including memory cards from ballot scanning machines and touchscreen voting units, along with absentee ballots, questioned material and early voting information.

"I'm pretty sure every election has some changes that are made after the election is finalized, and that can be from reporting errors," Jackson said.

It's the board's job to find those inaccuracies and correct them, according to Jackson. Following a team discussion, the 12 members of the review board signed the results for each of the state's 40 districts.

Now the Division of Elections is preparing for the electoral college, creating paperwork based on the certification for when the electors meets Dec. 19 to cast their votes for president and vice president.