Alaska’s Division of Elections has confirmed that there are more than enough qualified signatures on the ballot initiative aimed at repealing ranked choice voting.
After battling a months-long lawsuit aimed at blocking the repeal question from this November’s ballot, supporters who have been gathering signatures are celebrating the fact that voters will get a chance to repeal ranked-choice voting in November, thereby restoring party primaires and traditional voting.
Earlier this month a Superior Court judge said 3,000 signatures had to be tossed due to a small number of signature booklets being improperly handled during the gathering phase.
Filed by supporters of ranked-choice voting, the lawsuit alleged that the state should have never certified the repeal question because some signature booklets were left unattended, and that one married couple shared booklets which were assigned to just one signature gatherer.
The lead attorney fighting against the ballot question is Scott Kendall, the man who authored the RCV system that was narrowly approved by voters in 2020.
Kendall asked the court to invalidate the entire repeal question by tossing 11,000 of the 37,000 signatures approved by the state. Instead, the judge tossed just 3,000 signatures, which meant there were still plenty of names for the repeal question to go before voters.
In order for the repeal question to be on the ballot, there had to be at least 26,705 signatures, representing 30 of 40 voting districts across Alaska. After the Division of Elections recounted the signatures, they approved more than 34,000 signatures and 33 districts.
“We’re good. We’re happy,” said Phillip Izon, the man who wrote the repeal question and spearheaded the signature gathering.
While Kendall’s group can still appeal the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court, Izon said he is confident the high court will uphold the lower court ruling.
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“They don’t have a chance,” he said. “All the details were hashed out, so we should be fine.”
Izon claimed the real intent of the lawsuit was to drag the repeal side through a lengthy and expensive court case.
“They knew we were going to be fine. They did this because they were trying to stop us from raising money,” he said. “They wanted to create law fair scenario so that we would run out of money and that we would not be able to continue.”
While Izon said he’s happy with the outcome, he does expect the other side to drag the case out with a final appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court.
“We don’t believe there is anything that the Supreme Court would overrule,” he said.
The effort to pass Ballot Proposition 2, which would repeal ranked choice voting, is being spearheaded by a group called Yes on 2.
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23 Comments
This is awesome news! Alaskans do not want ranked choice voting and put in effort to get rid of it! The People’s word and action should stand!
On another topic, Joel Davidson’s picture is different and his name is backwards on this article.
Actual Alaskans want to keep this the only people that are afraid and want to get rid of it or transplants. Shows me who you are.
You could not create an argument that I couldn’t pick apart. You have no data proving why RCv is better. It is racist, it hurt Alaskan Natives Disproportionately and it hurts our elderly.
Can you name some Alaskans that support Rigged Choice Voting ? .. Besides yourself, that is.
Lobo, I am not supporting the troll’s statement; but, I actually met someone in my neighborhood that likes RCV and was happy with the results. Only two people (one being that person) I have met that liked it. Everyone else I have talked to want it GONE.
FoH, I actually am not surprised that you met someone who supported that scheme. We, many times, meet people who are uninformed, or do not take the trouble to research the issues. One question that I would ask of them is; Why is it that there are out of state organizations, groups, and people, so adamant in demanding that people of another state support a.. (their).. voting scheme set up, which is regulated by that state’s legislature… I believe that the answer is fairly obvious.
So now maybe, hopefully, and honestly we can rid ourselves of Lisa Murkowski from the Deep State.
Not without repealing electronic voting first.
RCV is a nothing burger compared to the threat of electronic voting. Always has been. This repeal effort was a good distraction though. Made people feel like they accomplished something, when they still whole game rigged.
I write a citizen’s initiative to remove electronic voting machines from the State.
Just like the RCv petition we will use volunteers.
The RCV repeal we used 95% volunteers
The only people against Ranked Choice Voting are those that are too stupid to figure out how to do it.
The only people “for” Ranked Choice Voting (Rigged Choice Voting) are those wishing to “rig” the outcome… Or, they are not well informed… In one sense, Pete is correct, but incorrect that it is simply a distraction. If one wishes to extinguish, or prevent a fire, one must remove “all” of the fuel.
Someone got butt hurt that the courts didn’t throw out enough signatures to keep it off the ballot. Now that the honest voters seen RCV for what it really is they want it gone.
“You’re too stupid for your own good,” said every tyrannical group ever. We know what group you are in, Tom. No need to reinvent the wheel here, C.S. Lewis wrote it best: “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”
There are lessons to be learned from this RCV nightmare that was authored by those hell-bent on gaming the system with this cheating scheme. This could have all been prevented, if voters had bothered to research what they were voting for. In future elections, — people need to vote “smarter.”
Many thanks to Mr. Izon and all the volunteers who worked hard to get this measure on the AK 2024 ballot. We left Colorado which is now trying to get RCV passed so they can remain deep blue (which is why so many of us have left the state).
RCV served Murkoski’s purpose, it kept her in power when a fair election would have ousted her. Good work to all the folks behind it’s repeal, we’re almost there.
I love AK rank choice voting. It allowed me to select the people I wanted representing me – Murkowski and Peltola represent the moderates. Far right and Far left people have no business representing AK.
Exactly right, Jon. Those opposing RCV are the 10%: on the far right who traditionally held all the cards and controlled who went forward in the general election. RCV puts the power to elect in the hands of the 90%.
In addition to ridding this state of RCV, we need to pass a law that bans all “outside” dark money funding. Only donations made by legal Alaska residents should be allowed for supporting candidates in elections held in this state. We should NEVER allow outsiders to influence decisions to be made by Alaskans.
Great RCV will be put on the ballet. With a little over a million people in the state you mean we need electronic machines. Go back to paper ballets with photo ID. Military personnel can still do mail in.
We do not have a million for a population in Alaska -just saying
We have around 750,000 give or take – I do not think that there are a million. Well, there might be with all of the illegals coming in!
This is why people need to get involved with Cause of America and learn how to hand count paper ballots! Even if we have to do hand count an RCV election, it can be done and Cause of America is teaching how to do it! Get involved folks! causeofamerica.org
People, get involved with causeofamerica.org ! Learn to hand count ballots and be ready!