Alaska's ranked choice system sees two new repeal efforts after November bid narrowly failed

Alaska's ranked-choice voting system has faced two new repeal efforts this month, after opponents of the system barely failed to get it repealed last month. 

The northern state chose to adopt the process in 2020, becoming the second state to use the controversial system after Maine. The process creates an open primary where all candidates for an office are listed on the same ballot, and the top four candidates advance to the November general election. 

The process gets more complicated in the general election if no candidate receives the majority of the vote. Voters are instructed to rank their candidates from first to last and the person who receives the least amount of votes is eliminated,  then second-choice votes from those who voted for the last-place finisher are reallocated among the remaining candidates and tallied. The process continues until one candidate has a majority.

The state used the process in the 2022 and 2024 House races, where Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola defeated two Republicans. However, she lost the election in 2024 to Republican Nick Begich.

Opponents of the system argue that its too complicated, with one adviser in the repeal effort arguing that the process "disenfranchises and discriminates voters" who do not understand the process, according to The Hill.

“When you look at ranked-choice voting, there are so many people who do not understand it," Bernadette Wilson, a senior adviser for one of the repeal campaigns, said. "They don’t vote down their entire ballot. Their ballots get exhausted. We hear that all the time, and we see it in the numbers."

Supporters of the process argue that it helps the government run more smoothly because the state legislature is made up of a more moderate group of lawmakers.

“Ranked-choice voting continues to play a huge role, and we were able to retain it again,” Democratic strategist Amber Lee told The Hill. “We kept it, and I’m happy we did because I think it means we get more independents, we get more moderate Republicans, we get more moderate progressives, and I think that’s what Alaskans want.”

The latest repeal effort last month lost by only 664 votes out of more than 300,000 cast. The other states that voted on whether to adopt the system last month largely rejected the effort, except for Washington, D.C.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.