Last Wednesday’s editorial by Trent England and Jason Snead should have been submitted to a California newspaper since data they cite was about problems that arose when ranked choice voting was implemented there. California has a population of 38,915,693 so one would expect some implementation bugs.
Their article ignores the truth that ranked choice voting gives voters more choices. Voters are not limited to a single party or to just one candidate where they might want to vote for more than one candidate.
They claim that ranked choice voting is too confusing. If one follows the instructions on the ballot, then it is not confusing. The Alaska Division of Elections supplied lots of information about ranked choice voting so no one needed to vote uninformed.
They state, “Because RCV makes elections more dependent on technology, much of the process happens inside a “black box.” What does that mean? Aren’t computers tallying the votes “black boxes” to most of us?
Alaskan voters approved rank choice voting through the initiative process. England and Snead should peddle their ideas elsewhere, and not in Alaska.
Gary Miller
Juneau