Alaskans decide whether to be first state to abandon ranked-choice voting

In 2020, Alaska voters adopted a new method of electing candidates, generally pairing open primary with ranked-choice voting.

In this election, Ballot Measure 2 asks voters if they want to make history again by becoming the first state to abandon ranked-choice voting and return to partisan primaries.

The No. 2 campaign is trying to persuade Alaskans to keep what they have by equating open primaries, where all candidates are on the same ballot, with freedom.

“We don’t have to pick one ballot and limit our options,” said Juli Lucky, the No. 2 frontrunner. “We can vote for anyone we want, we can also vote for people from a different party. “So if you want a Republican in one race, an independent in another, a Democrat in another, our open primary allows you to do that.”

Alaska’s system was praised nationwide As a way to end overly polarized politics and promote bipartisan compromise. And largely from outside sources, No on 2 raised more than $12 million. He outspends Yes by 2 to 100 to 1.

Still, the ballot measure has a good chance of passing because open primary and ranked-choice voting are unpopular with Alaska conservatives.

Republican former Lt. Governor Loren Leman argues that parties should be able to close their primaries to voters from different walks of life.

“Why would a registered Democrat in the Republican primary choose who their candidate will run against?” Leman asked: The latest episode of “Alaska Insight.” “What do you think they’ll do? Give someone a lower score or choose someone who will be a weaker candidate.”

While opponents argue the voting system was imposed on Alaska by outside interests, Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall says he came up with the idea. He said he saw the need for it when he was Gov. Bill Walker’s chief of staff, trying to get lawmakers to address the state’s fiscal crisis, among other issues. For two years, Kendall said, he couldn’t get lawmakers out of their impasse.

“They were all afraid of being ‘primary’ – you know, primary as a verb – that they would be expelled if they didn’t toe the party line,” he said. “We have created a system designed to get them re-elected but also to fail at their jobs.”

So in 2018, Kendall started thinking of a way to open the primaries. He preferred the primary election, in which the top four candidates would be promoted to general. Next, he needed a way to narrow the field without creating a spoiler effect where two candidates from the same party would split the vote and elect one opponent. This is where rank selection comes into play. Then Kendall said he began looking for money to organize a ballot measure campaign.

“Both in the state, where we’ve had some success, and then outside the state,” he said. “But the ideas and writing of the measure were done here in Alaska, by Alaskans.”

Alaska and Maine are the only states that employ ranked-choice voting for all or most state elections, but a few cities use the method. In November, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon will vote on whether to use ranked-choice voting in future elections. Meanwhile, 10 states led by Republicans Ban ranked selection.

For many conservatives in Alaska, the problem with ranked-choice voting was illustrated when it was first implemented in the 2022 special election for the U.S. House. Democrat Mary Peltola received more first-preference votes than Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. But the two Republicans combined received more votes than the single Democrat.

In theory, the ranking election should have improved the Republican divide. If every Begich voter ranked Sarah Palin second, Palin would win.

However, Begich voters chose not to cast their votes this way.

In its place, Just over half of Begich voters He picked Palin second. Almost a third voted for Peltola’s second place. And nearly a fifth of Begic voters did not vote for the second candidate.

So Peltola won. Palin was unable to capitalize on Begich’s votes enough to overtake Peltola’s lead.

To avoid a repeat, some Republicans have pushed the message that voters should “vote red” even if they don’t like the system. A similar situation occurred in the regular elections in November 2022: Peltola won. more first preference ballots and the Nos. 2 and 3 places did not provide Palin with enough support to overtake Peltola’s lead.

The lesson many Republicans take from this is that having two Republican candidates on the popular vote is bad, and the idea of ​​rankings is not embraced as a way to avoid spoiler effects.

Ranked selection is not a good tool for this, Leman said.

“This is a complicated situation. It’s complicated. “It confuses people,” he said.

Proponents of ranked choice say it’s so simple, even kids understand it. Lucky points to the low error rate in the 2022 elections as proof that the system is not difficult.

One person who changed his mind was former U.S. Senator Mark Begich, a Democrat who was initially a leading voice against ranked-choice voting.

“Yes, I supported efforts to keep it as is in 2020, keep the primaries, keep the general elections, let the parties decide,” said Begich, uncle of House candidate Nick Begich III.

The former senator was concerned, among other things, that the new system could mean Democratic candidates were shut out of the general election. He said he now believes this encourages candidates to be less polarizing and to campaign on who they are.

“I changed my view and saw that it gave voters a lot more options. And now I know there is an effort to get rid of it. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” he said.

The repeal measure will appear on the ballot as Ballot Measure 2. A yes vote would eliminate open primary and ranked-choice voting and replace them with party primaries and single-choice general elections. A no vote would preserve the system that has been in use since 2022.