The Juneau Assembly has shelved plans for a local ranked-choice voting system, saying the timing is wrong as the city prepares for significant budget strain.
Assembly member Ella Adkison moved to table the decision on the voting system indefinitely, after first introducing the ordinance in August.
The Assembly is facing a budget shortfall resulting from tax cuts approved during October’s election. Adkison said that the city will face cuts to services and layoffs as a result.
“It’s going to be a really tough time for Juneau and we’re going to have to spend a lot of time and energy as a community getting through that hard time, and I don’t think this is the right time to implement this ordinance,” Adkison said.
The motion to table passed unanimously without further comment.
Adkison emphasized that she still believes ranked choice voting would be good for Juneau. The system, she said, could encourage more people to run by allowing more than two candidates to compete without splitting votes.
Adkison’s motion came after public testimony on the issue. One repeated sentiment was that the Assembly should put the question to voters rather than adopting the system directly.
Former city clerk Beth McEwan testified against the ordinance. She said she supported ranked-choice voting at the state level, where elections are partisan, but not for local, nonpartisan races. She also argued that the system becomes confusing when multi-seat and single-seat races appear on the same ballot and can be difficult for voters to navigate.
“When you’re trying to describe to voters that you’re going to rank choice vote only those that are single-seats versus those that are multi-seat, it confuses the voters,” McEwan said.
The local decision comes amid a renewed statewide push to repeal ranked-choice voting. A citizen initiative aiming to overturn Alaska’s ranked choice voting system has resurfaced for a second time after organizers gathered enough signatures to place the repeal question on a future statewide ballot.
