A new group has formed to repeal Alaska’s controversial ranked-choice voting scheme. The goal is to return back to the traditional election system with party primaries and no ranking of multiple candidates on the general ballot.
Ranked choice voting narrowly passed via initiative in 2020, with few people understanding how it even worked.
The new organization, “Alaskans for Honest Government,” aims to submit a bill to the lieutenant governor no later than Nov. 30. The state then has 60 days to review it.
If approved, the group can begin collecting the 40,000 signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot. They hope to have the needed signatures collected by late April or early May of 2023.
The state must then verify the signatures before the bill can appear on the ballot for voters to decide in the November 2024 general election.
Many conservatives see ranked choice voting is as a scheme, specifically designed to benefit left of center candidates. It does away with party primaries and makes it much more difficult for conservative candidates to win in general election contests.
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The website of Alaskans for Honest Elections notes that the group’s goal is to “return Alaska’s Election System to a party primary system, political parties would select their candidates to appear on the general election ballot. “
The group is currently building a network for signatures and initiative sponsors.
To learn more, click here.
