New poll shows Alaskans understand ranked choice voting

Will Mantell | 

A new Patinkin Research Strategies / Alaskans for Better Elections poll offers the latest evidence that ranked choice voting (RCV) is off to a successful start in Alaska. 

Conducted after the Last Frontier’s August 16 “pick-one” primary and first-ever RCV general election (a special election for U.S. House), the poll found that: 

  • 85% of Alaskans reported RCV to be “simple”
  • 95% of Alaskans reported receiving instructions on how to rank their choices
  • A supermajority of voters (66%) ranked multiple candidates. Of the 33% of voters who only voted for one candidate, 75% reported the reason was “that was the only candidate I liked.”
  • 62% of Alaskans support the state’s new primary system

Everywhere it’s used, voters like and understand ranked choice voting, so this poll is no surprise. We’ll be excited to see more data after Alaska’s first regularly scheduled RCV elections – with more than 60 contests on the ballot across the state – this November. 

Patinkin Research Strategies’ poll memo is available here. 

More info on Alaska’s first RCV election is available here.