Ranked choice repeal group appeals big fine for violating Alaska campaign finance laws

Supporters of a campaign seeking to turn back the clock on Alaska’s voting system laws are appealing more than $90,000 in fines levied by the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

On Friday, Alaskans for Honest Elections, the Ranked Choice Education Association, Wellspring Ministries and Arthur Matthias filed a formal appeal in Anchorage Superior Court.

The appeal alleges that Alaska’s campaign finance regulator made mistakes when it fined the four for their participation in a system that sent campaign money through an organization registered as a church in Washington state.

The commission has not yet filed a response to the appeal.

Since APOC issued the large fine for violations of campaign finance laws, the regulator has also issued three other fines against Alaskans for Honest Elections for filing financial disclosures late.

Alaskans for Honest Elections is seeking to repeal Alaska’s open-primary and ranked choice voting laws, returning the state’s voting system to what it was before voters approved Ballot Measure 2 in 2020.

Alaskans for Honest Elections submitted tens of thousands of signatures to the Alaska Division of Elections last month in an effort to put a repeal initiative on this fall’s ballot. Elections officials are verifying the signatures and will make a final decision on the initiative before a March deadline.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.