Charlie Moody receives an “I voted” sticker from election worker Diann Ahrens after voting at the ANB/ANS Hall in downtown Haines. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (Will Steinfeld/Chilkat Valley News)

Updated at 11:45 a.m., Oct. 8

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct vote tally for Erika Merklin. Due to a data entry error moving votes from absentee ballot scanner to the results spreadsheet Merklin’s vote tally from was under-reported by 30…

Lizzy Hahn is a reporter and photographer from Nome. She has worked in newsrooms across Alaska including the Anchorage Daily News, Nome Nugget and UAF Sun Star.

Will Steinfeld is a documentary photographer and reporter in Southeast Alaska, formerly in New England.

Rashah McChesney is a multimedia journalist and editor who has reported and edited newsrooms from the Deep South to the Midwest to Alaska. For the past decade, she has worked in collaborative news as the...