Shea Siegert, campaign manager for Alaskans for Better Elections, recently spoke to the Wrangell Sentinel about their organization. With limited opportunities for in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, they are trying to get the word out about their campaign in any way they can. Their campaign, he said, is to make some big changes to the way elections are run in the state of Alaska.
"These are really important for Alaskans because we are facing some big problems with our current system," Siegert said. "This is absolutely necessary electoral reform."
Alaskans for Better Elections is working in support of Ballot Measure Two, which the Alaskan public will have the opportunity to vote on this November. According to the campaign's website, there are three main electoral reforms the passage of this ballot would accomplish.
First, it would require additional reporting for groups that raise and spend "unlimited amounts of money on campaigns in Alaska." The campaign's website explains that these fundraising groups would be required to disclose the true sources behind large donations. Siegert gave a hypothetical example, that was an independent expenditure group in Alaska, that receives a large donation from a Super PAC in the lower 48. Instead of releasing the name of the Super PAC as the donor, the expenditure group would have to release the names of the donors. This will help eliminate "dark money" in Alaskan elections, Siegert said.
"We absolutely have a right to know who those donors are," he said.
Secondly, Ballot Measure Two would create open primary elections. Approximately 62 percent of Alaskan voters are not registered with the Republican or Democrat parties, Siegert said. The way primary elections are run right now, an unaffiliated voter must choose between two ballots, depending on which party's candidates they want to support. This is part of the reason voter turnout is so low during the primaries, Siegert said, adding that the average turnout for the last 10 primary elections was about 27 percent. An open primary would, instead, provide voters with a single ballot that lists all the candidates to choose from.
Finally, Ballot Measure Two will change the general election to ranked choice voting. Right now, Siegert said, an election typically comes down to someone that a voter wants, or the exact opposite candidate. A ranked choice vote will give voters more opportunities to express their true preference, and ensure the candidates that win have more public support. In a ranked choice vote, he explained that voters will rank their preferred candidates, from one to four. If a candidate has a majority of the first choice votes, according to the campaign website, that candidate wins the election. However, if no candidate receives the majority of votes, whichever candidate has the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters that ranked the eliminated candidate as their first choice, will then have their votes count towards their second preferred choice. This process then continues until one candidate has a clear majority of votes. The current election system encourages divisiveness and political gridlock, Siegert said. A ranked choice election can help eliminate that.
"We need our politicians to drop the partisan gridlock so we can get rational people and rational things done," he said.
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