Alaska Ballot Measure 2, Repeal Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2024)

Alaska Ballot Measure 2
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic Electoral systems
Status On the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens

Alaska Ballot Measure 2, the Repeal Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative, is on the ballot in Alaska as an indirect initiated state statute on November 5, 2024.

A "yes" vote supports eliminating the top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections in Alaska, which were adopted in 2020, and establishing a party primary system.

A "no" vote opposes eliminating the top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections in Alaska, which were adopted in 2020.

Additional information on electoral system ballot measures
As of October 31, 2024, 11 statewide ballot measures related to electoral system changes, including ranked-choice voting and top primary elections, were certified in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota.

• You can find a list of 2024's certified measures here and analysis on supporters and opponents of RCV here.

• Information on ranked-choice voting ballot measures since 1965 is available here: History of ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures.

Overview

How would this ballot measure change Alaska’s electoral system?

See also: Measure design

This initiative would return Alaska to partisan primaries and general elections in which the candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins the election. Known as plurality voting or first-past-the-post, the candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected. This is the most common voting system used in the United States.

In 2020, Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which was a citizen-initiated ballot measure that replaced partisan primaries with open top-four primaries and established ranked-choice voting (RCV) for general elections, including the presidential election. Under Ballot Measure 2, candidates run in a single primary election, regardless of a candidate's party affiliation. The four candidates that receive the most votes advance to the general election. At the general election, voters elect state and federal candidates using ranked-choice voting. For state executive, state legislative, and congressional elections, voters rank the four candidates that advanced from their top-four primaries. A candidate needs a simple majority of the vote (50%+1) to be declared the winner of an election. If no candidate wins a simple majority of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated. People who voted for that candidate as their first choice would have their votes redistributed to their second choice. The tabulation process would continue as rounds until there are two candidates remaining, and the candidate with the greatest number of votes would be declared the winner.

Who supports and opposes the measure?

See also: Support and opposition

Alaskans for Honest Elections and Yes on 2 are leading the campaign in support of the initiative. With campaign finance reports through October 4, 2024, the campaigns reported $489,888.14 in contributions. The Ranked Choice Education Association was the largest donor, contributing $152,000.

Alaskans for Better Elections and No on 2 are leading the campaign in opposition to the initiative. With campaign finance reports through August 10, 2024, the campaigns reported $12.9 million in contributions. The largest donors included Article IV, which contributed $4.42 million, and Unite America PAC, which contributed $4.1 million.

Do other states use ranked-choice voting?

See also: Ranked-choice voting (RCV)

One other state, Maine, has adopted ranked-choice voting at the state level. Maine voters approved Question 5 in 2016, which adopted ranked-choice voting for congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections. One other state, Hawaii, has implemented RCV in certain statewide elections. In 2022, Nevada voters approved an RCV initiative that needs to be approved again in 2024 to take effect.

In addition, fourteen states contained jurisdictions that had implemented RCV at the local level. Five states had enacted legislation banning the use of ranked-choice voting in statewide or local elections.

Measure design

This measure was designed to replace open top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections with party primaries and a general election where the winner would be decided by the candidate who receives a plurality of votes.

Under this measure, Alaska would use a party primary process to determine the nominees for political parties in the general election. A political party would decide whether to hold an open or closed primary. An open primary is any primary election in which a voter does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary. A closed primary is a type of primary election in which a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in advance of the election date in order to participate in that party's primary. Voters would only be able to vote on one primary election ballot. The candidate that receives the highest number of votes in a party’s political primary would proceed to the general election ballot. For the general election, the winner would be decided by the candidate who receives a plurality of votes.

This measure would provide for candidates who did not appear on a primary ballot or were not successful in advancing to a general election to file as a write-in candidate. If a candidate dies, withdraws, resigns, or becomes disqualified or incapacitated after the primary election and 64 days or more before the general election, the vacancy can be filled by party petition.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question is as follows:

“

An Act Restoring Political Party Primaries and Single-Choice General Elections  This act would get rid of open primary elections and ranked-choice general elections.  It would bring back political party primaries and single-choice general elections. Elections will occur exactly as they did before a previous ballot measure changed the election laws in 2022. In the primary election, voters will choose a party’s ballot. They will vote for one candidate and the winning candidate will be the party’s nominee. In the general election, voters will select one candidate. The candidate with the most votes will win.   This act would also bring back party petitions, special runoff elections, and other processes in place before 2022. It would put all election laws, except campaign finance laws, back the way they were before 2022.  Should this initiative become law?

”

Full text

The full text of the ballot initiative is below:

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The lieutenant governor wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 9, and the FRE is 52. The word count for the ballot title is 134.

Support

See also: Support and opposition to 2024 ranked-choice voting ballot measures

Yes on 2 is leading the campaign in support of the initiative.

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. Shelley Hughes (R)
• State Sen. Mike Shower (R)
• State Rep. Julie Coulombe (R)
• State Rep. Thomas McKay (R)

Former Officials

• Former Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell (R)
• Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R)

Organizations

• Fair Elections Fund

Arguments

• Phil Izon, lead organizer of Alaskans for Honest Elections: "We stand for the Alaskans who felt misled, for those who found the RCV ballot confusing, and for everyone who believes in the sanctity of the straightforward voting process. Our message is clear: it’s time to remove Ranked Choice Voting from our state. ‘Let’s Take Out The Trash, Let’s Rid The Rank’ is more than a slogan; it’s a call to action for all Alaskans who value transparency and simplicity in their electoral system."
• Former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman (R): "[Ranked Choice Voting] is more complex, obscure and unfair. [It] protects the power of Outside special interest groups to spend dark money."
• Yes on 2 campaign: "In 2020, a Colorado-based political-action committee, Unite America, spent more than $1 million dollars to upend Alaska’s election system and impose a confusing 'ranked voting' process that suppressed voter turnout in 2022 and threw out thousands of voters’ ballots through 'ballot exhaustion.' That’s just wrong. Instead, we believe every vote should count, and be as simple as ‘I picked my top candidate.’"

Oppose

See also: Support and opposition to 2024 ranked-choice voting ballot measures

No on 2 is leading the campaign opposing the initiative.

Opponents

Officials

• State Sen. Catherine Giessel (R)

Former Officials

• State Sen. Gene Therriault (R)

American Indian Tribes

• Alaska Federation of Natives

Organizations

• ANCSA Regional Association
• Action Now Initiative
• RepresentWomen
• Sixteen Thirty Fund
• Unite America

Arguments

• Bryan Schroder, frmr. U.S. attorney for the District of Alaska: "I believe in good public policy. Alaska's ranked choice voting system is good public policy. It gives a voice to the majority of Alaskans who are not at either end of the political extremes. It also allows for better candidates, qualified individuals who can take thoughtful, moderated positions that would not have allowed them to survive a primary vote in the last few years, in either political party."
• Ana Hoffman, co-chair of Alaska Federation of Natives and president of the Bethel Native Corporation: "Our current open primary and ranked choice voting system allows for more freedom, more choice, more influence, and greater participation among Alaskans. It facilitates broader discussion by the candidates, and that produces more informed constituency—which means election outcomes are driven directly by the will of voters. The ability to have this type of engagement is restorative for the long-term intent of our democratic system. It decentralizes power and empowers voters."
• Randy Hoffbeck, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue: "Open primaries and RCV weren’t the result of political advocacy for a particular candidate; they were the answer to a system that was irreparably broken and needed to be reformed to better reflect the independent nature of Alaska’s political landscape. Yet some believe the old way was and is the only way to run an election. So, after only one election cycle under this current system, Ballot Measure 2 aims to turn back the clock to reinstate a broken system."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Alaska ballot measures

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through October 26, 2024. The deadline for the next scheduled reports is February 18, 2025.

Alaskans for Honest Elections and Yes on 2 are registered in support of the initiative. On January 3, 2024, the Alaska Public Offices Commission issued $13,087 in fines to Alaskans for Honest Elections for violating campaign finance regulations, and fined a total of $94,610 to respondents which included Alaskans for Honest Government, Wellspring Ministries, Wellspring Fellowship, Ranked Choice Education Association, Art Mathias, and Phillip Izon. The respondents were fined because they "failed to register with APOC, failed to correctly report contributions and expenditures, failed to provide accurate paid-for-by identifiers on communications, made an unlawful cash contribution, and/or failed to report the true source of contributions to [Alaskans for Honest Elections]," according to the order from the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Alaskans for Better Elections and No on 2 are the campaigns registered to oppose the initiative.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$320,772.94	$202,027.70	$522,800.64	$452,060.38	$654,088.08
Oppose	$14,142,069.21	$499,662.45	$14,641,731.66	$13,849,128.85	$14,348,791.30

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in support of the measure.

Committees in support of Ballot Measure 2
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Alaskans for Honest Elections	$170,280.70	$201,732.00	$372,012.70	$344,913.17	$546,645.17
Yes on 2	$150,492.24	$295.70	$150,787.94	$107,147.21	$107,442.91
Total	$320,772.94	$202,027.70	$522,800.64	$452,060.38	$654,088.08

Donors

The following were the top donors to the committees.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
Ranked Choice Education Association	$150,618.00	$1,382.00	$152,000.00
Thomas Dunham	$15,000.00	$0.00	$15,000.00
Dana Cruz	$10,000.00	$0.00	$10,000.00
David Cruz	$10,000.00	$0.00	$10,000.00

Opposition

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in opposition to the initiative.

Committees in opposition to Ballot Measure 2
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
No on 2	$13,819,748.61	$135,260.26	$13,955,008.87	$13,208,465.53	$13,343,725.79
Alaskans for Better Elections	$322,320.60	$364,402.19	$686,722.79	$640,663.32	$1,005,065.51
Total	$14,142,069.21	$499,662.45	$14,641,731.66	$13,849,128.85	$14,348,791.30

Donors

The following were the top donors to the committees.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
Unite America PAC	$5,500,000.00	$103,358.00	$5,603,358.00
Article Four	$4,400,000.00	$20,000.00	$4,420,000.00
Action Now Initiative, LLC	$2,000,000.00	$0.00	$2,000,000.00
Alaskans for Better Elections, Inc.	$170,000.00	$124,273.11	$294,273.11
Final Five Fund	$250,000.00	$0.00	$250,000.00

Background

2020 Alaska Ballot Measure 2

See also: Alaska Ballot Measure 2 (2020)

The initiative to establish top-four ranked choice voting appeared on the 2020 ballot in Alaska. On November 3, 2020, voters approved the measure by 50.55%-49.45%.

Ballot Measure 2 made changes to Alaska's election policies, including:

• requiring persons and entities that contribute more than $2,000 that were themselves derived from donations, contributions, dues, or gifts to disclose the true sources (as defined by Measure 2) of the political contributions;
• replacing partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices; and
• establishing ranked-choice voting for general elections, including for presidential elections, in which voters can rank the candidates that succeeded from the primaries.

In December 2020, a lawsuit was filed by the Alaskan Independence Party, Scott Kohlhaas, Robert M. Bird, and Kenneth P. Jacobus, against the state, declaring that Ballot Measure 2 was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs argued that Ballot Measure 2 violated their rights to free political association, free speech, and due process under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1 of the Alaska Constitution. On July 29, 2021, Ballot Measure 2 was upheld by Judge Gregory Miller, who wrote in his opinion that plaintiffs had "not met their burden of showing that any part of the new law is unconstitutional on its face." The decision was then appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court. On January 19, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the measure was constitutional.

Ranked-choice voting

See also: Ranked-choice voting

Ranked-choice voting is a voting system where voters are able to rank candidates based on preference on their ballots. Ballots are processed in rounds. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate in last place is eliminated, lifting the second-choice preference on the ballots. The process is continued until a candidate wins the simple majority (50% plus 1) of the votes.

How ranked-choice voting works

Broadly speaking, the ranked-choice voting process unfolds as follows for single-winner elections:

1. Voters rank the candidates for a given office by preference on their ballots.
2. If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (i.e., 50 percent plus one), he or she will be declared the winner.
3. If, on the other hand, no candidates win an outright majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
4. All first-preference votes for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots.
5. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the adjusted voters.
6. The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.

Ranked-choice voting in the United States

As of January 2024, ranked-choice voting is used in some states and localities across the United States. See the map, tables, and list below for further details. The numbers below do not include states where RCV is used by a political party for partisan primaries, or where military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots for runoff elections. For more information on these uses of RCV, see the table beneath the map below.

If you know of any additional U.S. localities using RCV that should be included here, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

• RCV used statewide: Three states use RCV statewide. Alaska and Maine use RCV in federal and statewide elections. Hawaii uses RCV in certain statewide elections.
• RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities: Thirteen states contain localities that either use or are scheduled to begin using RCV in municipal elections.
• RCV authorized by state law, but not in use: Virginia is the only state where RCV is authorized by state law but is not currently in use, other than for a partisan primary.
• RCV prohibited: Five states have enacted legislation prohibiting the use of RCV in any elections.
• No laws addressing RCV, not in use: Twenty-seven states have no laws addressing RCV, and neither the state nor any localities in the state use it.

The map below shows which states use ranked-choice voting statewide or in some localities as of January 2024. It also shows the states where RCV is either prohibited or not addressed in the law. It does not show states where RCV is used by a political party for partisan primaries, or where military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots for runoff elections. See the table beneath the map for details on these uses of RCV.

The table below summarizes the use of ranked-choice voting in the U.S. by state as of January 2024.

Ranked-choice voting usage in U.S. states and localities
State	RCV use	Details
Alabama	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
Alaska	RCV used statewide	RCV has been authorized for federal and certain statewide elections since 2020 and used since 2022. RCV was used for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in this state.
Arizona	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Arkansas	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
California	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following seven localities: Albany, Berkeley, Eureka, Oakland, Palm Desert, San Francisco, and San Leandro. RCV is also authorized in the following two localities: Ojai (scheduled for use in 2024) and Redondo Beach (scheduled for use in 2025).
Colorado	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following five localities: Basalt, Boulder, Broomfield, Carbondale, and Telluride. RCV is also authorized in the following locality: Fort Collins (scheduled for use in 2025).
Connecticut	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Delaware	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following locality: Arden.
Florida	RCV prohibited	RCV was banned by legislation in 2022, blocking its adoption in the following locality: Sarasota.
Georgia	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
Hawaii	RCV used statewide	RCV has been authorized statewide for certain federal and local elections since 2022 and used since 2023. RCV was used for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in this state.
Idaho	RCV prohibited	RCV was banned by legislation in 2023.
Illinois	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is authorized in the following localities: Evanston (scheduled for use in 2025), Springfield (only used by overseas absentee voters in local elections).
Indiana	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Iowa	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Kansas	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	RCV was used for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in this state.
Kentucky	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Louisiana	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
Maine	RCV used statewide	RCV has been authorized for federal and statewide elections since 2016 and used since 2018. Maine has also authorized RCV for all municipal election and it is currently used for these elections in the following locality: Portland.
Maryland	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following locality: Tacoma Park.
Massachusetts	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following two localities: Cambridge and Easthampton. Cambridge holds the record for the longest continuous use of RCV in the U.S. (1941-present). RCV is also authorized in the following locality: Amherst (schedule for use is uncertain).
Michigan	No laws addressing RCV, not in use	RCV has been approved, but is not used, in the following localities: Ann Arbor, Ferndale, Kalamazoo, East Lansing, and Royal Oak. Although Michigan does not explicitly prohibit the use of RCV, state election laws prevent the implementation of RCV. RCV was used in the following locality by federal enforcement from 2019-2023: Eastpointe.
Minnesota	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following five localities: Bloomington, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul. RCV was also used in the following locality, but it is no longer in use: Hopkins.
Mississippi	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
Missouri	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Montana	RCV prohibited	RCV was banned by legislation in 2023.
Nebraska	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Nevada	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	RCV was used for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in this state.
New Hampshire	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
New Jersey	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
New Mexico	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following two localities: Las Cruces and Santa Fe.
New York	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following locality: New York City.
North Carolina	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
North Dakota	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Ohio	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Oklahoma	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Oregon	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following locality: Benton County and Corvallis. RCV is also authorized in the following two localities: Multnomah County (scheduled for use in 2026) and Portland (scheduled for use in 2024).
Pennsylvania	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Rhode Island	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
South Carolina	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	Military/UOCAVA voters use ranked ballots when voting in runoff elections.
South Dakota	RCV prohibited	RCV was banned by legislation in 2023.
Tennessee	RCV prohibited	RCV was banned by legislation in 2022, blocking its adoption in the following locality: Memphis.
Texas	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Utah	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following 23 localities: Bluffdale, Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Elk Ridge, Genola, Goshen, Heber, Lehi, Magna, Midvale, Millcreek, Moab, Newton, Nibley, Payson, River Heights City, Riverton, Sandy, Salt Lake City, Springville, South Salt Lake, Vineyard, and Woodland Hills. The state adopted a pilot program allowing RCV in 2018.
Vermont	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is used in the following locality: Burlington.
Virginia	RCV authorized by state law, but not in use	All localities in Virginia have been authorized to use RCV since 2021. RCV is used for a partisan primary in the following locality: Arlington.
Washington	RCV used (or scheduled for use) in some localities	RCV is authorized in the following locality: Seattle (scheduled for use in 2027).
West Virginia	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Wisconsin	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections
Wyoming	No state laws addressing RCV, not in use for general elections	RCV was used for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in this state.

List of state ballot measures by year

2024

State	Type	Title	Description
AK	IndISS	Ballot Measure 2	Repeal the top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) system that was adopted in 2020
CO	CISS	Proposition 131	Establish top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state offices in Colorado
ID	CISS	Proposition 1	Establish top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal, state, and certain local offices in Idaho
MO	LRCA	Amendment 7	Prohibit ranked-choice voting (RCV) and the state local and governments from allowing noncitizens to vote
NV	CICA	Question 3	Establish top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state offices in Nevada
OR	LRSS	Measure 117	Establish ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state offices in Oregon

2002—2023

The following table provides a list of state ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures:

State	Year	Type	Measure	Yes	No	Outcome
Nevada	2022	Initiative	Question 3: Top-Five Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative	52.94%	47.06%	a
Alaska	2020	Initiative	Ballot Measure 2: Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting and Campaign Finance Laws Initiative	50.55%	49.45%	a
Massachusetts	2020	Initiative	Question 2: Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative	45.22%	54.78%	d
Maine	2018	Initiative	Question 1: Ranked-Choice Voting Delayed Enactment and Automatic Repeal Referendum	53.88%	46.12%	a
Maine	2016	Initiative	Question 5: Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative	52.12%	47.88%	a
Alaska	2002	Initiative	Ballot Measure 1: Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative	36.27%	63.73%	d

Path to the ballot

Process in Alaska

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Alaska

In Alaska, the number of signatures required for an indirect initiated state statute is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Alaska also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equal to 7 percent of the vote in the last general election must be collected in each of three-fourths of the 40 state House districts. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 365 days from the date the lieutenant governor issues petition booklets to be distributed for signature gathering. Signatures must be submitted 365 days after the lieutenant governor issued petition booklets to be distributed for signature gathering or before the legislative session begins, whichever comes first.

The requirements to get an indirectly initiated state statute certified for the 2024 ballot:

• Signatures: 26,705 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was on January 15, 2024.

In Alaska, when enough signatures are verified for an initiative, the initiative is not certified for the ballot until after "a legislative session has convened and adjourned." This gives the Legislature a timeframe to consider the proposal or similar legislation. The initiative is void when “an act of the legislature that is substantially the same as the proposed law was enacted after the petition had been filed, and before the date of the election," according to state law. Otherwise, the initiative is certified to appear on the ballot for the first statewide election 120 days after the legislature's adjournment.

Stages of this ballot initiative

• The initiative, titled "An Act to get rid of the Open Primary System and Ranked-Choice General Election", was filed on November 23, 2022.
• The initiative was approved to circulate on January 22, 2023.
• On January 12, Alaskans for Honest Elections submitted approximately 42,000 signatures to the Alaska Division of Elections.
• On March 8, 2024, the lieutenant governor's office announced that it verified 37,043 signatures.

Sponsors of the measure hired Leading Light Advisors and Top Fundraising Solutions to collect signatures for the petition to qualify this measure for the ballot. A total of $58,196.17 was spent to collect the 26,705 valid signatures required to put this measure before voters, resulting in a total cost per required signature (CPRS) of $2.18.

Lawsuit

  

Lawsuit overview
Issue: Signature verification; whether the state Elections Division has authority to allow sponsors to fix errors on filed petitions
Court: Alaska Third District Superior Court
Ruling: The signature process was not properly carried out disqualifying several booklets of signatures.
Plaintiff(s): Elizabeth Medicine Crow, a former president of the First Alaskans Institute; Amber Lee, a political consultant in Anchorage; and Kevin McGee, a past president of the Anchorage branch of the NAACP	Defendant(s): Alaska Division of Elections
Plaintiff argument: Signatures were collected in an illegal manner and the state Elections Division should not have allowed the sponsors to notarize signature booklets after they were submitted.	Defendant argument: Signatures were legally obtained and submitted.

  Source: AP News

A lawsuit was filed by three voters arguing that the state Elections Division unlawfully instructed the initiative campaign to leave petition booklets unattended and authorized the campaign to notarize the signature booklets after they were submitted. Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin ruled on July 19 in favor of the plaintiffs disqualifying several booklets of signatures and instructing the Elections Division to recount signatures to determine if the measure still qualified for the ballot. On July 23, 2024, the Elections Division reported that the initiative still qualified for the ballot.

On August 22, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the lower court's order ruling that the Division of Elections properly certified the initiative for the ballot.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Alaska

Click "Show" to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Alaska.

How to cast a vote in Alaska

Poll times In Alaska, all polling places are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Alaska Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Alaska is divided between the Alaska time zone and the Hawaii-Aleutian time zone. Registration Check your voter registration status here. To register to vote in Alaska, each applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Alaska, and at least 18 years of age or within 90 days of their 18th birthday. An individual convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude may not register to vote until their voting rights have been restored. If registered to vote in another state, applicants must be willing to cancel that registration in order to vote in Alaska. To vote in Alaska, registered voters must be at least 18 years old and have been a resident of the state and election district for at least 30 days. Prospective voters can register online, with a paper form, or in person at a Division of Elections Office or a voter registration agency. The deadline to register or make changes to a registration is 30 days before an election. If submitting an application form by mail, fax, or email, the applicant must provide one of the following forms of identification either with his or her application or when voting for the first time: “ Current and valid photo identification Driver’s license Passport State identification card Birth certificate Hunting and Fishing license. ” Automatic registration Alaska automatically registers eligible individuals to vote when they apply for a Permanent Fund Dividend, unless they opt out. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Alaska has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Alaska allows same-day voter registration in presidential election years, but voters who do so can vote only for the offices of president and vice president. Residency requirements Alaska law requires 30 days of residency in the state and election district before a person may vote. According to the Division of Elections' website, "you are considered an Alaska resident if you reside in the state and intend to remain a resident or, if you temporarily leave the state, you have intention to return (Active military members, spouses or dependents are exempt from the intent to return requirement)." Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Alaska does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury. Verifying your registration The site My Voter Information, run by the Alaska Department of Elections, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Alaska requires voters to present non-photo identification while voting. The following were accepted forms of identification as of July 2024. Click here for the Alaska Division of Elections' page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information. Voter ID card Driver’s license State ID Other photo ID Passport Hunting or fishing license If you do not have the one of the identifications listed above, you may present a current utility bill or paycheck, government check or bank statement or other government issued document. These documents must have your current residence address.

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• Elections and campaigns on the ballot
• 2024 legislative sessions

Alaska

• Alaska ballot measures
• Alaska ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Petition 22AKHE (2024)