Alaska elections officials prepare for absentee ballot count

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska election officials plan to begin counting more than 155,000 absentee and other ballots Tuesday, a week after Election Day.

Some have questioned or criticized the lag, citing a provision of state law that says the counting of reviewed absentee ballots should begin the night of the election. But Maria Bahr, an Alaska Department of Law spokesperson, said absentee ballots are not deemed eligible for counting until voter histories have been run to guard against any possible duplicate votes.

The process involves going through precinct registers, which election officials...