Alaskans will vote on whether to repeal ranked choice voting under state Supreme Court decision

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision Thursday that allowed a question on whether to keep the state’s new voting system to appear on the November ballot.

Alaskans narrowly adopted a 2020 ballot measure that put in place open primaries and ranked choice general elections. The voting method was first used in 2022 and is again being used this year. Supporters of the method say it yields more centrist candidates willing to work across the political aisle. But a group filed a petition earlier this year seeking to repeal the voting method, arguing that the voting system is too confusing and disadvantages partisan candidates.

The petition was certified by the Division of Elections, but three Alaskans who support the new voting system filed a lawsuit against the Division of Elections arguing that the division incorrectly counted signatures that should have been disqualified. The voters, represented by Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall, argued that if all the deficient signatures were thrown out, the petition would fail to meet the threshold necessary to put the question on the ballot.

A Superior Court judge ruled last month that some of the signatures on the initiative were deficient, but it still had enough to qualify for the ballot. The voters appealed the case to the Alaska Supreme Court, asking the court to rule on whether the Division of Elections was correct in allowing the ballot group organizers to correct errors in dozens of signature booklets after they were submitted to the division.

Shortly after oral arguments, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision and stated an explanation of the decision would be issued at a later date.

Thursday’s oral arguments focused on more than 60 signature booklets that were notarized by an individual whose notary commission had expired. The division had allowed the ballot group to collect the booklets after they were submitted, have them notarized by a valid notary, and re-submit them. Kendall, the attorney representing the voters, said that by the time the booklets were re-submitted, the statutory deadline for the question to be certified had passed.

Kendall, who is one of the original authors of Alaska’s current voting system, also argued that the division’s decision to allow some mistakes to be corrected created an unpredictable procedure that could allow division staff to make an effort on behalf of petitioners in some cases — but not others.

“Nowhere is it more important that we have a clear process that the public can follow, just like a line, than in elections,” Kendall said.

The justices questioned the attorney representing the state on the existence of objective policies that could be applied evenly to all petitions.

“It just seems like the division could treat different petitioners or different sponsors differently during this process given the absence of any real standards, or any guide on their broad discretion,” Chief Justice Peter Maassen said during oral arguments.

Assistant Attorney General Kimber Rogers said that the Division of Elections followed its own procedures when it allowed the petition gatherers to get the booklets notarized by a valid notary after they had been filed.

“The division was not inconsistent in the way that it applies the statutes here,” said Rogers.

“We aren’t excusing errors. We’re providing an opportunity to fix,” Rogers added.

Rogers also said that Alaska courts have long ruled in favor of ballot groups when the validity of petitions is called into question, an approach that justices appeared to follow with Thursday’s ruling.

“We have to be thinking (about) the people who are signing … their statement that they want this to move forward — should that be invalidated because a notary didn’t renew their commission? They couldn’t have known that,” said Justice Jennifer Henderson.

The justices’ expedited decision in the case provides certainty ahead of next month, when the Division of Elections must finalize the November ballot. The decision also settles monthslong questions about the fate of the ballot initiative.

The state’s campaign ethics watchdog fined the ballot group $94,000 in January for violating the state’s reporting requirements, including by funneling most of their funding through a Washington-based religious organization. The complaint about the group’s violations was also originally written by Kendall more than a year ago. The group continued to collect signatures even as its funding and signature collection processes were repeatedly scrutinized.

Dueling independent expenditure groups are already spending money to sway voters on the question of keeping Alaska’s voting system. Earlier this month, a group seeking to keep ranked choice voting and open primaries reported raising more than $2.6 million since launching their campaign — around 60 times the amount raised by a group backing the repeal effort, which if allowed to remain on the ballot will be known as Ballot Measure 2.

The “No on 2″ group is funded almost entirely by a national organization called Unite America, which has spent millions in numerous states across the country to promote election reform, including open primaries and ranked choice voting.

Separate groups in numerous states are promoting ballot initiatives that seek to emulate parts of Alaska’s top-four primary and ranked choice election system, including in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona. All are backed by Unite America funding.

The leaders of the repeal initiative have touted their effort as grassroots and nonpartisan. But they are all current or past members of the Alaska Republican Party, and are affiliated with Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin, who lost her congressional bid in 2022.

While the group supporting this year’s ballot initiative has not received funding from the Alaska Republican Party, leaders of the party have openly said their goal is to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries, which they say have weakened the party’s influence and control over candidate selection. The majority of Alaska’s voters are not affiliated with any major party.

The Division of Elections is directed by Carol Beecher, a registered Republican appointed by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom last year. Beecher has not taken a public position on the ballot question.

Neither has Dahlstrom, who is running for U.S. House. Another Republican congressional candidate, Nick Begich, has said he signed the repeal initiative and plans to support it. Alaska’s current U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who easily won the open primary held Tuesday, has repeatedly expressed her support for open primaries and ranked choice voting.