The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that neither endorses nor opposes candidates or political parties, but does take positions on certain issues and policies that affect voters. The League of Women Voters of Alaska urges voters to vote no on Ballot Measure 2. Passing this measure would return Alaska to closed primaries controlled by the parties and to elections in which a candidate can win without garnering an outright majority of votes.
Four years ago Alaska voters approved a citizen-initiated ballot measure that replaced partisan primaries with open top four primaries and established ranked choice voting (RCV) for general elections, including the presidential election. In an open primary all candidates compete in a single primary election, regardless of party affiliation. Citizens vote for the candidates of their choice regardless of their own political party, which makes sense considering more than half of Alaska voters are not registered as Republican or Democrat.
Under the old system, there have been statewide races in which the winners received less than half the votes cast. With ranked choice voting, the winning candidate must have over 50% of the vote. RCV also encourages campaigns to exercise civility because winning candidates need to appeal to all Alaskans, not just their own party. This reduces the demonizing of opponents that has contributed to distrust between neighbors and family with differing opinions that we currently see in our increasingly polarized society.
The shift to open primaries and ranked choice voting was a big change, but Alaskans are smart and can see the advantages of RCV and open primaries. The midterm election under the new system was a great success.
More states are looking at ranked choice voting and open primaries as a step forward. Let’s continue to lead by voting no on 2.
Kirsa Hughes-Skandijs
League of Women Voters of Juneau