A ballot measure that could repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice election system is headed to a vote in November, the Alaska Supreme Court confirmed Thursday, Aug. 22.
In a brief order, the court’s five members upheld a lower court decision that certified Ballot Measure 2, which would repeal the laws that created the state’s ranked-choice general election and open primary election system.
The order came shortly after justices heard oral arguments in an appeal claiming that the Alaska Division of Elections improperly certified the measure.
“Today the court quickly affirmed that the Division of Elections properly interpreted and applied the law in qualifying this initiative for the November ballot,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Lael Harrison said in a statement issued by email. “The Department of Law is grateful to the court for their timely review and decision on this issue, in plenty of time for the division’s upcoming ballot printing deadlines.”
At issue in the appeal was whether the Division of Elections could legally allow petitioners to correct flaws with petition signature books after they had been submitted to the division.
Plaintiffs had argued that the division did not have the power to allow post-deadline corrections under existing law, something the division has allowed since at least 2019.
If plaintiffs had won, the division would have been required to discard some petition books, denying repeal supporters enough signatures to put the question on the ballot this fall.
Justices did not immediately explain their reasoning but said they affirm the lower court’s decision.
Plaintiffs were represented by attorney Scott Kendall, who wrote portions of the state’s current election laws. Ranked-choice voting was enacted by a different ballot measure in 2020.
By text message, Kendall said he appreciates the fast ruling but that plaintiffs are disappointed by the ruling. “We do not yet know the court’s reasoning, but despite demonstrated irregularities in the Division of Elections’ handling of the … petition, they were obviously unwilling to reverse the superior court,” he said.
Kendall noted that backers of the initiative to repeal the new voting system are still in court, facing fines of nearly $100,000 after Alaska’s campaign finance regulator cited them for illegal fundraising.
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