This project is a collaborative effort by members of conservative groups across Alaska. We welcome you to participate in the most effective grassroots action you can take today to directly influence the political process here in Alaska.  Join us in taking back Alaska, one precinct at a time. (Start here: What is Precinct Project Alaska?)

More than that, you influence the election even before Election Day. If you are silent and don’t make your presence known, then a conservative candidate considering running for a contested race (such as a higher party office position) may not even run because they don’t think they have any significant support!

Most people don’t realize it, but your silence itself is a vote. If you let folks know that you will be showing up on voting day, then good candidates will be inspired to run. When it comes right down to it, it’s just that simple.

All politics is local. It’s been said by countless political figures, from Tip O’Neill to Pat Robertson. Every political leader starts in a local neighborhood. Every leader makes his way up through the ranks by learning “how the process works.”

How does the process work in your community? Are political leaders held accountable? Or are they instead being taught through practical experience that the Constitution is a historic concept that they ought to “look past” because of our “pressing modern needs and emergencies”? The simple truth is we are training up future political leaders every day. Some of our local men and women will take positions of community leadership. Some will go on to higher levels of leadership. What lessons will they take with them when they do? If they learn their lessons from an apathetic and disengaged community, we will have failed them. But there is an even more practical political truism:

“For better and for worse, we tend to get the leaders we deserve.”

Here in Alaska the political process is specifically designed to be driven by the grassroots. The Republican Party officially calls itself “Alaska’s leading grassroots organization,” and it has every right to do so. The very structure of the party is such that the grassroots are the gatekeepers; they hold all the keys.  The board of governors of the Alaska Republican Party (“The Alaska State Central Committee”) is elected right in your backyard, and in backyards all across the state.  The Chairman of the Party, and all of the statewide party officers are not elected in a backroom where only the wealthy or politically connected are invited to attend. Every statewide officer is elected by delegates, every one of which is chosen right in your backyard and in other backyards. The requirements to vote in party elections are minimal:

1) Show up to the convention (some are only an hour long)
2) Register as a voter and pay the convention fee

You don’t have to have ever registered to vote before in your life. You can register to vote for your very first time on the morning of the convention when you walk in the door. They’ll even have a blank voter registration form for you. And if you register as a Republican voter, there’s nothing they can do to keep you out or keep you from voting in the Republican Party Elections. It’s that easy!

The moment Alaskans take personal responsibility for the direction of their government is the moment things will change. It’s time.

That being said, we do not take either the name Conservative or Patriot without sound reason. We are proud in saying that Conservative is not a vague or fuzzy concept, despite the attempts of some to make it so.  It is not an amorphous idea meant to cast a net wide enough to include nearly everyone, despite fundamental disagreements on the proper role of government in these United States. In the words of Frederick Douglass:

“What, then, is the Constitution? I will tell you. It is no vague, indefinite, floating, unsubstantial, ideal something, colored according to any man’s fancy, now a weasel, now a whale, and now nothing. . . . The American Constitution is a written instrument full and complete in itself. No Court in America, no Congress, no President, can add a single word thereto, or take a single word therefrom. It is a great national enactment done by the people, and can only be altered, amended, or added to by the people.”—Frederick Douglass, Glasgow, Scotland, March 26, 1860

As our Constitution is a tangible document, attesting to the legitimate actions of both common citizens and their fellow citizens temporarily serving as representatives in the halls of government, it is something we can and will defend. So, too, we offer the following tangible statement of core principles we hold in common. As these reflect principles and values that are fundamental to our way of life, we will defend these, both at the ballot box and in our daily lives.

Ten Principles of Conservatism
Being Conservative is a way of understanding life, society, and governance:

1.   Conservatives believe in the written Rule of Law as expressed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by the founding fathers and reject the idea of a living Constitution.

2.   Conservatives believe that government is best which governs least.

3.   Conservatives believe in the individual right to life, liberty, and property.

4.   Conservatives believe in the sanctity of the individual from conception, that families are the basic units of society, and that anti-family policies should be ended.

5.   Conservatives believe our freedoms and rights are God-given natural rights, not given by the government.

6.   Conservatives have compassion for the poor and oppose policies, such as socialism, that cause or extend poverty.

7.   Conservatives believe in free and fair trade of goods and services.

8.   Conservatives believe in a strong military and have a great respect for those who have put their lives in peril to protect others.

9.   Conservatives believe in public policy that encourages advancement based solely on ability and achievement.

10.  Conservatives believe English should be the common language for the United States.

Source: Thanks to Alaska Conservative Patriots Group for publishing these as core principles that both their members and the members of other groups may rally around.

Step 1) Attend your local party convention this February or March.

Those who show up will vote to elect local party leaders, will vote on to fundamentally change the state party platform and constitution (which is call “The Party Rules” in the Alaska Republican Party) and will elect local delegates to the state convention in April.

Those who do not show up will be left to wonder on Election Day why the same Republican establishment continues to support and fund the same establishment candidates as it has in the past.

Civics is not a spectator sport! Be the Grassroots – Get involved!

You can visit the Precinct Project Calendar on the right side of this page to find the date, time, and place of your local district convention.

Every precinct has a Precinct Leader position. Larger precincts will have two positions. Regardless, it is almost certainly the case that one or both of those positions in your precinct is vacant. All together, there are approximately 600 precinct positions throughout the state. Of these, it is estimated that nearly 400 are currently vacant because the party has not been able to find (or more likely not even tried to find) someone to fill that position.

Every precinct will vote to elect new precinct leaders in either February or March 2010 (elections take place every two years).

Well, perhaps we should qualify that. Every precinct should vote to elect new precinct leaders. The fact is that in the most Republican district in the state, there were no elections two years ago simply because no one cared to hold them. You may very well find that the elections for your precinct are not even scheduled, and won’t take place unless you express an interest having them. Vacant positions means no one ran for the position two years ago. And if there were no candidates, why hold an election? I’m sure you understand, which brings us to Fact #2.

It is important to note however that Districts very widely in their level of activity. Some districts will be very active, while others will be struggling, and some districts do not even have a single Republican volunteer who is willing to lead the District (this usually pertains only to the most rural House Districts).

The first stage is a District level convention, followed one to two months later by a State level convention. Each district should have a district level convention, though even at the district level there are inevitably some districts that fail to organize a convention due to inactivity at the local level.*

In 2010, the district conventions will take place sometime between February 11th and March 15th. The State Convention will be a two-day convention and will take place on April 16th-17th.

At the District convention the following key events will take place:

1) The Election of all District leaders, followed by the election of all Precinct Leaders,

2) The Election of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the State Convention (see the number of delegates your district is entitled to elect),

3) Proposing and approving recommended changes to the Alaska Republican Party Rules (Bylaws/Constitution),

4) Proposing and approving Party Resolutions and Position Statements,

5) Proposing and approving recommended changes to the (Statewide) Party Platform,

6) Proposing and approving recommended changes to the (Statewide) Mission Statement,

7) Proposing and approving recommended changes to the (Statewide) Statement of Principles.

All recommendations approved at the District Convention will then be forwarded to the State Convention for a final vote.

* The Alaska Republican Party permits individual Precincts to organize and elect precinct leaders prior to the District convention if they so choose. However, in reality this very rarely takes place due to inactivity at the local level.

The area of each district is shown on the Election Districts Webpage.

You may also call the Elections Office in your region to verify the district and precinct you are registered to vote in. If you are not registered to vote and you call, they can look up your district and precinct if you give them your current address.

Your District and Precinct are important information.
Write it down so you don’t forget!

Alaska Division of Elections Regional Offices
Southeast Alaska Elections Office (Districts 1-5 and 33-36)
Toll-Free (866) 948-8683

Southcentral Alaska Elections Office (Districts 13-32)
Toll-Free (866) 958-8683

Matanuska-Susitna Elections Office (Mat-Su Valley Districts)
Phone (907) 373-8952

Central Alaska Elections Office (Districts 6-12)
Toll-Free (866) 959-8683

Northern and Western Alaska Elections Office (Districts 37-40)
Toll-Free (866) 953-8683

Eligibility: There are very specific requirements for becoming a State Delegate. In order to become a State Delegate a person must have registered at the District Convention and then been elected at the District Convention. Registering as a participant at a District Convention may be accomplished either in person or over the phone during the registration window on the morning of the District Convention. The registration window will be 1-2 hours long and ends one hour after the convention begins.

The qualifications to become a state delegate are the same as the qualifications to participate in your local District Convention:

1) You must be able to register as a voter in Alaska, and
2) You must show up and register (or call in) on the morning of the District Convention,
Plus 3) You must fill out a very short Nominations Request Form expressing interest in becoming a State Delegate.

The requirements to register to vote in Alaska are very basic:
1) You must be a US citizen,
2) You must currently be an Alaska resident (e.g. you must have lived in Alaska for at least one day),
3) You must be at least 17 years and 9 months old.

The requirements in order to register as an attendee at a District Convention are also straight-forward:
1) You must sign in (or call in),
2) You must register to vote or show that you have already registered as a Republican voter in your district,
3) You must include your address, email address, phone number, and if you are interested in volunteering for anything,
4) You must pay your delegate registration fee (each district has its own fee depending on the costs of hosting the convention).

Note: If you plan to participate in your convention only by teleconference, you must find some way of demonstrating that you are a registered voter or have filled out a voter registration form.