Alaska election results show ranked choice voting continues to work well for voters

Deb Otis | 

The Alaska Division of Elections has certified the state’s 2024 election results, and completed recounts in two close races. This article analyzes the final results included in the state’s cast vote record, an anonymized record of how each voter ranked their ballot in each RCV race. It is a best practice to release the cast vote record, allowing researchers to independently analyze how voters used their ranked ballots

This year’s results show that ranked choice voting (RCV), along with open primaries, continues to work well for Alaska voters. 

Winners had strong consensus support

Winners of RCV elections always have a majority of votes in the final round, but most winners have even greater support – as measured by how often they’re ranked in voters’ top three choices. This is an important measure of which candidates are consensus-builders who can reach beyond their base.

The median winner in Alaska was ranked in the top three by 63% of voters. The below table includes winners of races that went to an RCV count, as well as those who won a majority of voters’ first choices in races with three or more candidates. 

For example, Republican Rob Yundt won 53% of voters’ first choices, but RCV shows he has an even stronger mandate; 68% of voters in his district ranked Yundt on their ballot.

Candidates of both parties won elections that went to an RCV count: 

  • Republican Nick Begich won the U.S. House race, slightly expanding his lead in the RCV count.
  • Three Republicans and two Democrats were elected to the State House.
  • Three Republicans were elected to the State Senate.

27% of voters ranked across party lines in their top two choices

There were 10 Alaska elections that included multiple members of the same party and at least one candidate from another party. In these contests, 73% of voters who ranked multiple choices used their 2nd choice on a candidate from the same party as their 1st choice, while 27% ranked someone from a different party. (This only includes voters who ranked multiple candidates and whose first choice was from a party that had at least one other candidate running.) 

Voters rank when it matters

The Alaska election results reveal that voters who selected “longshot” candidates were more likely to rank backup choices. This indicates that voters understand the state of the race and understand how their ballot will be counted with RCV – which we also saw in a November 2024 poll where 84% of Alaskans reported that RCV is “simple.”

Alaska’s top-four RCV system creates space for independent and minor-party candidates to run, and encourages more competitive general elections. Yet even so, many elections were dominated by two front-runner candidates. For example, 96% of voters ranked Trump or Harris as their first choice, with 4% ranking another candidate first. Alaska saw the highest vote share for independent and third-party presidential candidates this year, according to Cook Political Report. 

78% of voters who ranked a third-party or independent presidential candidate first ranked a backup choice. Compare that to 26% of those who ranked Trump first, and 37% of those who ranked Harris first, ranking a backup choice.

Voters behaved similarly in the race for U.S. representative. Voters for the less-known candidates, Eric Hafner and John Wayne Howe, were likely to rank a backup choice (64% and 55%, respectively). Voters for front-runners Nick Begich and Mary Peltola were less likely to rank a backup choice (22% and 43%).

This matches previous evidence that voters rank when it matters, demonstrating an understanding of how RCV works.

Two recounts uphold the initial results

The Division of Elections conducted two recounts in the weeks since the election was certified, as required by state law when the recount is requested by a losing campaign or a group of voters. 

First, a statewide recount of Ballot Measure 2 confirmed “no” as the winner, meaning voters chose to continue using RCV and open primaries. In the initial count, “no” won by 737 votes. After the recount, the Yes side gained 106 votes and the No side gained 112 votes, widening the margin to 743 votes. 

The other recount occurred in State House District 28, where initial results showed Republican Elexie Moore defeating fellow Republican Steve Menard by 12 votes. In the recount, Moore maintained her lead and won by 9 votes. 

This is typical of election recounts. No recount has ever changed the outcome in an RCV race. In statewide general elections, recounts have only changed the outcome three times in the last 24 years.