Anchorage mayoral elections need ranked choice voting
Update: The Anchorage mayoral election went to a delayed runoff on May 14. Turnout dropped by 157,992 votes, or 67%. Ranked choice voting (RCV) would have saved the city time and money by holding an “instant runoff” instead.
Yesterday, 10 candidates competed to be Anchorage’s next mayor. Since no candidate reached Anchorage’s 45% winning threshold, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff election on May 14. Former Anchorage Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance and incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson advanced with 36% and 35% of votes, respectively.
Anchorage’s delayed runoff system means that voters must return to the polls six weeks later, and the city must fund another election. Anchorage has been down this road before; three of the city’s last four mayoral elections required a runoff – with the latest mayoral runoff costing the city $314,904.
Runoff elections do not incentivize candidates to make broad appeals. The Anchorage Daily News commented that the candidates were “fighting not to win, but to lock in a spot in a runoff.” Indeed, Bronson said that “we’ve always anticipated a runoff because of… the many candidates and we knew we’d get to that.”
Ranked choice voting provides a simple but effective alternative. On Election Day, voters can rank the candidates in order of preference. If no candidate meets the winning threshold, an instant runoff is triggered. If a voter’s top choice performed poorly, their ballot can count toward a backup choice.
Alaskans are already using RCV for state and federal elections, after approving the method in a ballot measure in 2020. In its first use, most voters used multiple rankings and reported RCV to be simple. As the Anchorage Daily News editorial board said when it endorsed RCV for Anchorage last week:
Ranked choice voting, which Alaskans have experienced at the state level for the past two statewide elections, would be a far more sensible system for municipal elections than the current first-past-the-post method.
RCV is a better, faster, cheaper alternative to runoffs; it saves taxpayer money, rewards positive campaigning, gives voters more choice, and delivers decisive outcomes in a single election.
RCV is already used for elections in the largest city in seven states. Anchorage and other American cities would benefit from adopting it.
