If history is any indication a recount of the narrowly defeated ranked choice repeal ballot measure won’t be successful, but it will be colorful to observe.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom on Monday announced an intent to recount the votes for Ballot Measure 2, which was defeated by 664 votes in a margin of 49.9%-50.1%. The Alaska Republican Party stated on Saturday it will ask for a recount after results of the Nov. 5 election are certified Nov. 30, with the state required to pay for recounts when the margin is less than 0.5%.
An audit ordered by then-Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer in 2020 when a measure implementing ranked choice voting was approved found 24 votes out of 361,400 cast where the results were different than the machine count. Both Dahlstrom and Meyer are Republicans.
Nationwide there were 36 statewide recounts in 6,929 general elections between 2000 and 2023 — with the outcome changing only three times, according to the nonpartisan research group FairVote.
“All three reversals occurred when the initial margin was less than 0.06% of all votes cast,” the group noted, adding the most recent reversal was in 2008.
Looking to overcome those odds will be the law firm led by Harmeet K. Dhillon, hired by the Alaska Republican Party for the recount effort.
“Ms. Dhillon is an expert in election law,” Carmela Warfield, the party’s chair, said in a prepared statement. “She and her colleagues Michael Columbo and Mark Meuser were recently on the legal teams in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and other crucial locations nationally to ensure a fair, transparent, and thorough process.”
Dhillon, a legal advisor to Donald Trump during his 2020 presidential campaign, said after that election she expected the U.S. Supreme Court to help him win reelection despite him trailing in the vote count.
“We’re waiting for the United States Supreme Court — of which the president has nominated three justices — to step in and do something,” Dhillon said.
She also ran for chair of the Republican National Committee in 2023 with the backing of Trump supporters, but lost to party stalwart Ronna McDaniel who was elected to a fourth term.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
