Just three years after Alaska voters approved a ranked choice voting and open primaries, a trio of conservative House members are pushing a bill that would repeal the new system.
House Bill 4, introduced by Sarah Vance (R-Homer), George Rauscher (R-Big Lake) and Kevin McCabe (R-Big Lake), is set for a public hearing on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
In its first run in Alaska, ranked choice voting favored moderate candidates over more extreme ones. After being defeated by more moderate candidates, Sarah Palin and Kelly Tshibaka, launched a campaign to repeal ranked choice voting. But the bill introduced by Vance, Rauscher and McCabe seeks to take a shortcut and overturn the will of the voters without actually hearing from them at the polls.
In 2020, voters made Alaska the first state to combine ranked choice voting with a nonpartisan open primary. In the open primary first round, anyone can run and everyone can vote, regardless of party affiliation.
After the first open primary round, voters rank the top four candidates in order of preference. If a candidate wins a majority of the votes in the first round, the election is over, and that candidate is the winner. If no candidate wins a majority, then the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and each voter’s ballot is re-distributed to their second choice. The process continues until one candidate reaches a majority of votes.
The 2022 elections were the first time open primaries and ranked choice generals were used. The changes resulted in a larger, more diverse candidate pool that mirrored Alaska demographics and included more women candidates as well as more candidates who were not tied to a political party.
This process, built on having broad support, led to more collaboration, compromise and running positive campaigns rather than attacking an opponent. This year, a 17-member bipartisan super-majority formed in the Senate with the focus of passing a balanced budget and tackling the fiscal issues that have been the source of partisan gridlock in past legislatures.
The State House, which has the largest freshman class since 2003, organized an informal freshman bipartisan caucus to collaborate across party and formal caucus lines to work for the people. They introduced term limits for the State House and Senate as their first joint bill.
Ranked choice voting also made elections more competitive. Exit polling found that 79% of voters said it was easy to understand, and 60% said that it made elections more competitive compared to previous years.
How to Testify
There are two ways to testify during the public hearing — in person in Juneau, or over the phone. To testify in person, appear at the Alaska State Capitol, room 120 at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
To testify over the phone, there are different numbers to call depending on what area your phone is attached to. If you’re from Anchorage, call 907-563-9085. If you’re from Juneau, call 907-586-9085. Everyone else can call 844-586-9085.
