It’s a very bad voting system. Washington Street Journal A Ranked-Choice Voting Farce in Alaska One candidate for Congress is a federal prison inmate. Another wants a secession vote. Democrats fear the inmate may hurt Rep. Mary Peltola. Alaska’s experiment with ranked-choice voting (RCV) has devolved from drama into farce. The Democratic Party is now heading to the state Supreme Court, pleading to stop a U.S. House candidate, Eric Hafner, from being listed as a Democrat on November’s “top four” ballot. Why? Well, he lives in New York. In a federal prison. Where he’s scheduled to stay until 2036. Under the rules of Alaska’s new voting system, used for the first time in 2022, all candidates for a given office run together in an open primary. Then the top four finishers advance to an RCV general election. In last month’s House primary, the leader was incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola (50.9%). Then came two competitive Republicans, Nick Begich (26.6%) and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (19.9%). Fourth place was Republican Matthew Salisbury (0.6%). Both Ms. Dahlstrom and Mr. Salisbury have since quit the race, opening up two slots on the November ballot for the next candidates in line. The fifth-place primary finisher, earning a grand total of 621 votes (out of 108,407 cast), was John Wayne Howe of the Alaskan Independence Party. Mr. Howe argues that Alaska’s vote for statehood “was illegal.” Or as he put it in an official candidate statement: “I will work to free the Nation State of Alaska.” In sixth place, with 467 primary votes, was Mr. Hafner, running as a Democrat. One might call him an experienced candidate, since in the past Mr. Hafner has also filed to run for House seats in Hawaii and Oregon. In 2022 he pleaded guilty to, among other things, phoning in fake bomb threats to government offices. “I’m innocent,” Mr. Hafner told the Alaska station KRBD, over a prison phone line. “Ultimately, if I’m elected, I expect to be released immediately at that point. There’s a federal statute under compassionate release that says you could be released for extraordinary compelling reasons. And, by golly, if I’m going to D.C. to represent the people of Alaska, I think that’s a very extraordinary and compelling reason.” Democrats want to get him disqualified, for obvious reasons. “The Court should enjoin the printing of general election ballots with Mr. Hafner’s name,” says their lawsuit. “His presence on the ballot as a purported Democrat would force Plaintiff Alaska Democratic Party to associate with him against its will and would confuse voters.” On Tuesday a state judge ruled against them, saying Democrats “have demonstrated almost no harm” and “simply highlighted the realities of ranked-choice voting and a ‘top four nonpartisan open primary.’” Also, although the Constitution says Mr. Hafner would need to be an Alaska resident “when elected,” that day “has not yet arrived,” and “the court cannot make any factual finding about the future.” Try not to laugh. The state party plans to appeal. But if Alaska Democrats dislike a system that lets anybody with 467 primary votes go to the general election while waving their party’s banner, the answer is easy: In November they can support Ballot Measure 2 to repeal this mess of an RCV law.

Excellent article. The details are articulate and well explained. Thank you.

With ranked choice there has to be a 50 percent winner. If no candidate gets 50 percent you can make your second choice in the event the person you vote for is knocked out.

After a flury of Soros-backed lawsuits to prevent the people of Alaska from voting on Rank Choice, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled the petition to get repeal on the ballot is valid. Vote YES on 2. One person. One vote.