The U.S. Department of Justice gave the Preclearance for Alaska's new voter districts on late Wednesday afternoon.

This means the first ballots will be put in the mail on schedule tomorrow. The federal acceptance of the new re-districting maps had the potential of delaying the primary election to be held on August 28th.

Gail Fenumiai, the State Elections Director, stated, “We’re quite pleased that the election won’t be disrupted by any litigation and that Alaskans will be able to proceed with voting in the Aug, 28 primary election.”

The approval of what is known as the “Amended Proclamation Plan” by the United States Justice Department also makes moot the court case that was to be heard today on the challenge attempting to block the state from going ahead with election preparations before the approval was given by the federal government. AThe plaintiffs withdrew the case shortly after the decision from the feds was announced.

Redistricting takes place every ten years in conjunction with the ten-year census and is to take into consideration the demographic data taken in by that surveyas well as to assure that the voting power of the ALaskan Native people is not diminished.

Other versions of the re-districting maps have been drawn up by the board, but each met challenges and the maps went back to the drawing board. The present map was sent to the Justice Department earlier in May of this year after Alaska Supreme Court approval to assure that it did not violate any federal laws.

Information on the “Amended Proclamation Plan” can be seen at the Alaska Redistricting Board‘s website. The letter from the Assistant Attorney General approving the plan can be seen here.