By AlaskaWatchman.com

Later today (Aug. 31), Alaskans will finally learn who won the state’s very first ranked-choice voting contest. Will it be hard-leftist, pro-abortion Democrat Mary Peltola, or will Sarah Palin complete her comeback to national politics? It’s been two weeks since the election and we still don’t have an answer – not until 4 p.m. today.

We’re predicting a Palin win due to the convoluted ranked-choice scheme. In order for Palin to win she’ll need to peel off about 34,500 second-ranked votes from third-place Nick Begich, assuming all of his remaining second-choice votes go to Peltola, which is unlikely given Begich is a Republican and Peltola a Democrat.

If Alaska ran elections like it did up until this year, we wouldn’t have this prolonged and confusing waiting game. Palin would probably have narrowly defeated Begich in a standard primary and she’d be going toe-to-toe with Peltola – a scenario that would heavily favor a Republican.

This election, of course, is just a precursor to what’s waiting for us in November when 59 state legislative races are up for grabs, along with the governor’s race and a U.S. Senate contest – all of which will be decided by ranked-choice voting.

If we can make it through this tangled election, it will be imperative that our state legislators buckle down and work to repeal the worst voting scheme in the entire country.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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OPINION: Palin v. Peltola – who will win today’s ranked vote showdown?

Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 24 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.


11 Comments

  • Proud Alaskan says:

    The cheaters

    • Joanne says:

      Nick Begich needs to drop out of the race as a sacrifice for Alaska and our country. Add up the conservative votes (Palin and Begich) and they FAR outweigh the votes Peltola received. But if both run, they are putting a democrat into office against the majority’s will. We had open primaries in the past and it DID NOT WORK. We need to get back to closed primaries. Not strategic manipulation of the voting system, that’s cheating.

  • Andy says:

    I pray Palin wins, murdering the unborn is an evil act, I would never support anyone who condones it.

  • James says:

    Ask Dominion.

  • Ceak says:

    This election is painful to watch

  • Me says:

    Lol. Lmao

  • Sarah Jameson says:

    without life, no law matters. I don’t understand why so many people want to legalize killing our future generations. All we are doing is committing slow suicide and demoralizing ourselves in the process.

  • Sarah Jameson says:

    Let’s call it what it is — rigged voting.

    • No longer a proud Alaskan says:

      Absolutely Right!! As a life long Alaskan, I’m considering moving to a State that doesn’t have Rank Choice voting, Dominion machines,