Originally published July 25, 204
Updated Sept. 3, 2024

What you need to know:

• The Mat-Su Sentinel is creating voter guides to help borough residents participate in this year's elections.
• The voter guide will include topics and questions created with input from you, the voter. But to do that, we need you to tell us what you want by filling out a short form (below). Unless you choose to provide your name and email address, all submissions are completely anonymous.
• Elections in the cities of Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston will be held Oct. 1. The borough-wide election will be held Nov. 5, coinciding with the national election. All registered voters in the borough can cast a ballot in the mayoral election, while residents in certain borough districts will vote for Assembly or school board members.

The Mat-Su Sentinel is creating voter guides to help borough residents participate in local elections.

The Mat-Su Sentinel is preparing voter guides for the November elections for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly, mayor and school board. We also produced a guide for the October elections in Houston, Palmer and Wasilla.

We need your help in deciding what to include. What issues are important to you? What questions would you like the candidates to answer?

Submit your topics and questions here:

About the Mat-Su Sentinel voter guides

National elections get a lot of attention, but local elections are our chance to choose who will make decisions about some of the most basic, yet impactful, things we experience every day. These things include road repairs, school start times, snowplowing, classroom sizes, trash fees, property taxes, sales tax rates and more.

You always hear that voting is a privilege, but it can feel more like a chore. How do you know who to vote for or what they think about the issues that affect you most?

Voter guides can make it easier. With your help, we're creating an interactive, easy-to-navigate series of voter guides borough residents.

The guides won't include information about national or even state elections. In the future, we plan to produce guides that include our local state House and Senate candidates. But for this year, we're focusing only on the borough and cities.

Your responses will be completely anonymous unless you choose to share your name and email address.

Submitted issues and questions will form the basis of what the Mat-Su Sentinel sends to candidates. Questions will be on topics or issues that are within the purview of the candidates if they win the seat in question.

City elections in Palmer, Wasilla and Houston will be held Oct. 1. The borough-wide election will be held Nov. 5, coinciding with the national and statewide elections. All registered voters in the borough can cast a ballot for mayor, while residents of certain borough districts will vote for Assembly or school board members.

-- Amy Bushatz can be contacted at abushatz@matsusentinel.com

This article was updated Aug. 5 to correct a typo in the date of the elections. The elections will be held Oct. 1.