OPINION: Ballot Measure 2 won’t disenfranchise veterans and service members

I wore our nation’s uniform for 24 years. I voted in many elections, while on active duty and since retiring. Most were as an Alaska resident after I moved here in 1993. Not one time as a registered voter was I denied my constitutional right to vote. Service members could always vote in primaries regardless of party affiliation before ranked choice voting (RCV) and open primaries were installed in Alaska after the 2020 election. They can vote now with RCV, and if Alaskans vote to repeal RCV in November, service members will still be able to vote in primaries as they did before.

The stakes are high with Ballot Measure 2, a citizen-led initiative that aims to end the ranked choice voting scheme. However, don’t think for a second those who wish to “save” RCV in Alaska care about Alaska. How can I make such a bold statement? The pro-RCV crowd has one mission: to spend millions of dollars of dark money flowing into Alaska from Lower 48 billionaires and left-wing groups, in the hope of saving RCV from being repealed. Why?

Simple. Alaska is being used as the guinea pig to spread RCV to the rest of the nation. Our own congresswoman and others are spending time in other states pushing RCV. They are saying we love RCV, and it works great. Those two statements don’t hold up to scrutiny, even beyond the fear-mongering lie about service members being unable to vote without registering as a member of a political party. Polling data has been consistent. RCV is not well-liked by Alaskans and a sizable majority wish to see it gone.

Here’s the kicker: If Alaska repeals ranked voting in November, it will put the brakes on the pro-RCV national campaign, because the logical question across the Lower 48 will be, if it’s so great, why did Alaskans repeal it after only four years? Indeed.

Can you see it now? It seems no low is too low for those trying to save ranked choice voting, even going so far as to blatantly lie to our military men and women, trying to scare them into voting no on Ballot Measure 2. I find this despicable.

The dark money pro-RCV alliance has falsely claimed that repealing RCV would prohibit the military from voting unless they registered with a political party. This is false. Not being affiliated with a political party does not stop anyone from voting in elections, including our military. It is deceptive at best to actively undermine the democratic process by spreading disinformation to voters.

The pro-RCV crowd is skating on thin ice. Will news, social media and others do the right thing and correct the false narrative? If not, perhaps Alaskans need to demand legal action. The dark money they claimed they would eliminate when they urged us to vote for RCV four years ago is now being used to persuade us to keep it.

When you enjoy a great meal at a restaurant, do they keep spending money trying to convince you it was great? Of course not, you simply know. Alaskans know we got burned by the dark money lie and the “virtues” of RCV the first time. Alaskans aren’t buying it this second time around.

Proponents of RCV understand repealing it in Alaska would undermine their national campaign, and their desperation to save it is evident. This explains why they have more than $7 million of outside dark money being spent, while Alaskans opposing RCV have only a few tens of thousands of dollars — almost all from Alaskans.

Talk about a David and Goliath battle. It’s time we told the Lower 48 to butt out of our internal politics and leave us to be the fiercely independent political state we are.

Repealing RCV will stop the disenfranchisement of senior citizens, minorities, English language learners, and individuals with less than a high school education. Studies have shown ranked voting directly contributes to voter confusion among these groups. RCV is so troublesome, in fact, the Alaska Democratic Party recently filed a lawsuit over a registered Democrat on the congressional ballot. They said RCV could “cause confusion and take votes from their ‘preferred’ candidate.” I agree RCV is a mess.

We can do better than this — and we must.

I have had the honor of serving Alaskans as a state senator for seven years and have been at the forefront of election issues. It’s clear to me as a veteran and elected official the time has come to end ranked choice voting.

Send the message. Vote yes on Ballot Measure 2 in November. A yes vote on 2 will repeal ranked choice voting and put us back to a simple, easy-to-understand system of one person, one vote.

Sen. Mike Shower is a member of the Alaska Senate. He lives in Wasilla.

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