OPINION: We should be proud of Alaska's voting system

In the 2020 general election Alaskans did something very Alaskan. We didn’t elect any particular candidate but passed a citizen’s initiative that changed how we elect statewide offices. The initiative changed our closed primaries to an open primary and put ranked choice voting in general elections.

This November, we are being asked to reaffirm that initiative or revert back to our old system of voting. We need to vote no on this.

At statehood, Alaska had open primaries. But later, primaries were closed and voters were forced to choose a party ballot to vote on to participate in primaries. You could not vote for a Republican and a Democrat but were stuck in one camp or the other for the primary. Alaskans do not fit this mold; 57% of registered voters are nonpartisan/undeclared.

In 2020, voters discarded the partisan method of voting by passing a ballot initiative replacing the political party-controlled primary with a nonpartisan top-four primary election system. In this nonpartisan system, everyone in their respective House district receives the same ballot with all candidates, regardless of political party or group affiliation. Voters vote for one candidate in each race, and the top four candidates for each race advance to the general election. We vote based on the person, not the party, and our current system allows us to do that by opening up primaries and not restricting who you can vote for solely based on registration.

For our general election, our old partisan system of voting was called a plurality system, meaning that the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he or she does not receive a majority of votes cast. This works fine in an election with only two candidates, but in an election with more than two candidates, the winner can be elected by a small percentage of the voters. Ranked choice voting is a simple way to ensure that the winner in an election has a majority (greater than 50%) of the votes. Voters rank their candidates in order of preference. If a candidate wins a majority of first choices they win, just like any other election. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and that candidate’s voters’ ballots are counted for their second choice. This process continues until a candidate wins a majority of votes. I just completed my absentee ballot for the 2024 election, and it could not be simpler. Anyone who claims that voting a ranked choice ballot is hard to understand is being dishonest with voters.

Our uniquely Alaskan combination of an open primary with a ranked choice general election is a practical electoral system that gives voters more choice in their democracy, rewards candidates who find common ground and build cross-party consensus, eliminates spoiler and wasted vote dynamics, and assures that winners have broad popular support. These changes empower voters, but are also good for the candidates themselves; allowing them to engage in more civil elections, forge bipartisan bonds, and they are freed from the fear of being “primaried” in their next election. They are also elected with a majority allowing them to have a clear mandate from the public and accomplish the work necessary to govern our state.

Alaska, by registration, is about 57% nonpartisan/undeclared, 24% Republican, 13% Democrat, 3% Alaskan Independence and 3% other. Like Alaska, our current election system is truly nonpartisan, and since ranked choice voting elects candidates whom the majority of the voters support, they are truly democratically elected.

I found a lot to like using this system in 2022, and in 2024, it has become another part of being an Alaskan that I am truly proud of.

Vote no on Ballot Measure 2 to preserve a nonpartisan, truly democratic and uniquely Alaskan electoral system.

Bob Butera is a commercial fisherman who has never missed a fishing season or voting in an election in 36 years.

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