In a significant win for Alaska voters, the state Supreme Court has decisively ruled in favor of allowing a measure aimed at repealing the controversial ranked choice voting system to remain on the November ballot.
The ruling affirms that Alaskans will have the opportunity to reject this confusing system that has muddled the state’s electoral process and left many voters frustrated.
In 2022, Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola “won” reelection in Alaska to a full term in the House in November after she defeated Sarah Palin in a special election to replace Rep. Don Young.
Peltola was the FIRST DEMOCRAT to win the House seat in solid red Alaska in 50 Years! She was only able to win the seat in the deep red state because of the conspiracy known as ranked-choice voting.
Ranked-choice voting and mail-in ballots were implemented in Alaska by referendum in 2020.
This is how Democrats steal seats. And Republicans let them.
The Gateway Pundit reported in 2023 that Alaskans for Honest Elections began collecting signatures that will rid them of the state’s ranked-choice voting and non-partisan primaries in the state.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who heads the Alaska Division of Elections, announced that sponsors of the anti-ranked choice initiative gathered almost 37,000 signatures, about 10,000 more than necessary, to allow the measure to appear on the ballot for Alaskans.
In addition, the signatures came from 34 of Alaska’s 40 voting districts which is four more than required by law.
On Thursday, the Alaska Supreme Court’s swift and decisive order upheld the earlier decision by Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin, affirming that the state Division of Elections acted within its authority and complied with all necessary deadlines.
The repeal measure, which seeks to overturn the 2020 voter initiative that introduced ranked choice voting and open primaries in Alaska, will now give the state’s citizens the opportunity to restore a more straightforward and traditional voting system.
Under the current system, voters are required to rank candidates in order of preference, a process that has been criticized for being confusing and pushing voters to support candidates they do not truly back.
Today the Court quickly affirmed that the Division of Elections properly interpreted and applied the law in qualifying this initiative for the November ballot,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Lael Harrison, in a statement issued by email, per the Alaska Beacon.
“The Department of Law is grateful to the Court for their timely review and decision on this issue, in plenty of time for the Division’s upcoming ballot printing deadlines.”
“I was very pleased the court was able to so quickly see through the smoke the other side was putting out,” said former Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.
“Their questions at oral argument were very focused and demonstrated they understood the heart of the statutory interpretation issue they were being presented.”
Read the ruling below:
