Alaska voters are slated to have an opportunity this year to affirm or repeal the state’s use of ranked choice voting, Division of Elections officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The news comes after Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin disqualified some of the signatures gathered by a repeal effort on Friday because the gathering process was not carried out in accordance with state law.
Whether there would be enough total signatures was not in question, but rather whether there would be enough to meet the requirement for a certain number of signatures from at least 30 of 40 state House districts.
Officials with the state’s Division of Elections confirmed the repeal effort gathered enough signatures in the requisite number of districts and filed their findings with the court.
Former Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson represented repeal supporters in the case and predicted the outcome would be favorable for the repeal initiative last Friday.
Attorney Scott Kendall wrote the 2020 ballot measure that led to the use of ranked choice voting and represented the plaintiffs in court. He said he expects to file an appeal with the state’s Supreme Court this week.
Alaskans first used ranked choice voting in the 2022 election. It will be used in the general election this November.
• Claire Stremple is a reporter based in Juneau who got her start in public radio at KHNS in Haines, and then on the health and environment beat at KTOO in Juneau. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
