Alaska Supreme Court to hear arguments in case seeking to keep ranked vote repeal measure off ballot
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court will hear a case Thursday deciding whether a measure to repeal the state’s new open primary and ranked-choice general election system will remain on the November ballot.
The parties the pleading of the case in Anchorage want a ruling from the state Supreme Court by September 3.
Three voters who filed a lawsuit seeking to keep the measure off the ballot are challenging the ruling by Supreme Court Justice Christina Rankin. decision in June that the state Elections Department met deadlines and acted within its authority when it allowed the repeal measure’s sponsors to correct errors in petition booklets after they had already been submitted.
Ranking in a later decision found instances where the signature gathering process was not properly conducted by proponents of the repeal, and they those books are disqualifiedBut the appeal focuses on the deadline questions.
To get an initiative on the ballot, collecting signatures is required. People distributing petition booklets must declare that they meet certain requirements and have their declarations notarized or certified.
The Elections Department discovered problems with more than 60 petition booklets — most of which involved a person whose notary license had expired — and began notifying the petitioners of the problems on Jan. 18, six days after the petition was filed, according to attorneys for the state and plaintiffs.
The repeal measure’s sponsors ultimately returned 62 corrected booklets before the division completed its signature count in March. Lawyers for both sides have said the measure would not meet the signature requirements to qualify for the ballot if the 62 booklets were thrown out.
The 2020 initiative replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked-choice general elections. Under the open primary system, voters are asked to select one candidate per race, with the four candidates with the highest votes, regardless of party affiliation, advancing to the general election.
The new system was first used in 2022 and is reused for this year’s electionsIn many legislative elections this year, there were fewer than four candidates in the primaries.
Proponents of ranked-choice voting say it gives voters more choice and rewards candidates who appeal to a larger share of the electorate. Opponents say It’s confusing and causes voters to rank candidates they don’t necessarily support.