This is the first year for ranked-choice voting in Alaska, and the changeover will start next week. Voting in the primary election to choose from among 48 candidates to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young will close June 11.
The top four vote-getters in the primary will advance to the Aug. 16 election, though voters need to remember they can cast a ballot for only one candidate in the primary.
The general election is when voters will have the option to rank their top choices among the final four as 1, 2, 3 and 4, or just 1 and 2 or 3, or just 1 if that is what they prefer.
If no candidate wins a majority of No. 1 votes in the first count, the fourth-place finisher will be eliminated and voters who cast ballots for that candidate will have their votes moved to their second choice, or third choice, until a candidate garners votes from a majority of Alaskans and is declared the winner.
Voters later will repeat the process to elect a congressman for a full two-year term to represent Alaska. That primary will be Aug. 16 — yes, the same day as the general election to fill the remaining months of Young’s term. The general election for the full term will be Nov. 8.
Ranked-choice voting, which Alaskans adopted in a voter initiative on the 2020 ballot, also will apply to the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Lisa Murkowski, the governor’s race and legislative races, all set for the Nov. 8 statewide election. The change in voting laws eliminated political party primaries in Alaska. All candidates run in a single primary, open to all voters to choose from the same list.
“Now as we’re getting closer, our group and so many other groups are doing educational campaigns,” said Jason Grenn, executive director of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Alaskans for Better Elections, which sponsored the 2020 initiative.
Grenn said he is doing two or three presentations a day across the state, “pretty much for anyone who will have us.”
Among the biggest misunderstandings he hears, Grenn said, are people who think they can rank their choices in the primary election — no, only in the general election — and people who ask whether they have to rank their choices among all four finalists in the general election — the answer to that also is no.
“Only rank who you want to send to Juneau or Washington,” he said, and if that is just one of the final four, that’s up to each voter.
The June 11 primary to fill Young’s unexpired term is being held by mail, though the state Division of Elections is providing limited in-person voting for Alaskans who missed mailing back their ballot, did not receive one in the mail, or simply prefer to vote in person.
Registered voters can cast their ballots at City Hall in Wrangell from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. election day June 11, according to the state elections website.
As of last Friday, almost 90,000 Alaskans had returned their mail-in ballots. More than 133,000 registered voters cast ballots in the 2020 primary, and Grenn expects this year’s turnout could exceed that total.
People who want to vote by mail need to ensure their ballot is postmarked no later than June 11 and must be received at the Division of Elections by June 21. Mail-in ballots must include the voter’s signature, an identifier (date of birth, last four digits of Social Security number or driver’s license number), and a witness signature.
Reader Comments(0)