Statement on Alaska’s Ranked Choice Voting Results
August 31, 2022 — Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, shared the following statement in response to Alaska’s first ranked choice voting election results:
“Alaska has now joined Maine as the first states to elect a member of Congress with ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting gave Alaskans more choice and competition in this contest. Turnout was the third-highest in Alaska primary history and voters handled the ballot well, with 85 percent of voters reporting that ranking candidates was simple. This is no surprise – research and polling shows that everywhere it’s used, voters like and understand ranked choice voting.
Kudos to the Alaska Division of Elections for running the geographically largest ranked choice voting election in American history.
Come-from-behind wins are rare in ranked choice voting elections. More Alaskans used their 1st choice on a Republican candidate, and 80 percent of Nick Begich voters ranked a 2nd choice. But that vote didn’t consolidate behind Sarah Palin – only half of Begich voters ranked Palin 2nd, and 30 percent ranked Peltola 2nd. That likely speaks to Peltola’s positive, bridge-building campaign, compared to Palin’s negative campaign and messaging that repeatedly discouraged ranking. A Republican could win the full two-year term in November if they work to make positive connections with more voters and convince them to ‘rank the red.’
In the coming days, Alaska will certify results and release a full cast vote record, which will tell us how Palin and Peltola voters used their rankings and much more. Ranked choice voting results are far more transparent and reveal more about voter preferences than single-choice elections; FairVote will share an analysis of the cast vote record in the coming days.
Finally, it’s worth noting that this was a ‘unicorn’ election – a single special election for a seat that’s open for the first time in 49 years, held on the same day as a regularly scheduled primary. By comparison, Alaska will hold over 60 regularly scheduled ranked choice voting contests on Election Day.
Ranked choice voting is off to a great start in Alaska, and we’ll have a much better sense of how it’s doing in November.”
