( NewsNation) — A city in Alaska is preparing to become the first in the United States to allow voters to cast ballots from their smartphones in its upcoming municipal election.

While too much shouldn't be made out of off-year elections, today's will be the first major electoral sign of the political mood and what voters think of the president.

Anchorage will experiment with internet voting in local elections, betting that its ease and security will win over voters even in an era of election conspiracy theories.

Anchorage, Alaska, is about to launch an experiment that could reshape how Americans vote: letting residents cast ballots via smartphone. Starting with the city's April municipal election, the pilot program will give Anchorage's 240,

Alaskans enacted the state’s existing elections system via a ballot measure in 2020, and a repeal measure last year failed by only 737 votes out of 320,985 cast. Proponents of the repeal vowed at that time to renew their effort and began gathering signatures in February to force another vote.

A group seeking to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting and open primary system says it has gathered enough signatures to put the repeal question on the 2026 ballot. The group formed after the 2024 election,

Anchorage election administrator Liz Edwards said the voting system has been in place since April, and was not a “first of its scale” experiment the city was about to conduct, as the Times reported.

If adopted, Juneau would become the first major city in Alaska to adopt ranked choice voting for municipal elections.

State Sen. Shelley Hughes said she is resigning to run for governor, days after fellow Republican Sen. Mike Shower resigned to run for lieutenant governor.

As Alaskans who care deeply about the future of our state and the integrity of our democracy, we feel compelled to speak out in support of the Citizen-Only Voting Initiative.