In what is apparently a first for Alaska, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly passed an ordinance last week that will prohibit the use of voting tabulation machines for borough elections, starting next year.

The new Mat-Su ordinance, approved Oct. 4, caps off a months-long effort from a group of residents determined to ban the use of voting machines spurred on by false claims of election fraud. Last month, the assembly unanimously voted to use a hand-count to verify the results of the Nov. 8 borough election, but voting machines will still be used in the election.

Borough officials deter...